President-elect Biden Names Sabrina Singh as White House Deputy Press Secretary

Sabrina Singh, a longtime aide to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has been named White House Deputy Press Secretary in the upcoming Biden-Harris administration, according to a statement issued Friday, January 8.

Singh was Press Secretary to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the Biden-Harris campaign. As the first Indian American to assume the role of a press secretary to an U.S. Vice-President nominee, Singh is the granddaughter of Sardar J.J. Singh of the India League of America, who championed the cause of the right to immigration. The long, arduous, nationwide campaign culminated in the then president Harry Truman signing the Luce-Celler Act on July 2, 1946. The signing of the Act allowed a quota of 100 Indians to immigrate to the United States per annum.

According to a statement by Biden-Harris transition team, the appointments demonstrate that the president and vice president-elect are building an administration that “looks like America and is ready to deliver results for the American people on day one”.

Prior to her role on the campaign, Singh served as Senior Spokesperson for former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign and National Press Secretary for New Jersey Senator Cory Booker’s presidential campaign.

A young achiever, 33-year-old Singh previously served as Deputy Communications Director for the Democratic National Committee, Spokesperson for American Bridge’s Trump War Room and Regional Communications Director on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

She has also worked at SKDKnickerbocker, served as Communications Director for Rep. Jan Schakowsky and worked at various Democratic committees.

The appointments demonstrate that the president and vice president-elect are building an administration that looks like America and is ready to deliver results for the American people on day one, the transition said.

In the weeks after the election results were announced, several Indian Americans have been appointed to important posts by Biden. Notably among them is Neera Tanden, who was nominated to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Vivek Murthy as the Surgeon General, both of whom will have to be confirmed by the Senate. Vedant Patel has been named Biden’s assistant press secretary, Vinay Reddy to be the director of speechwriting and Gautam Raghavan to be the deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel.

The appointments demonstrate that the president and vice president-elect are building an administration that looks like America and is ready to deliver results for the American people on day one, the transition said.

“Building our nation back better requires having the best and the brightest in our administration. These accomplished individuals have the knowledge and expertise to hit the ground running on day one and will work each day in service to the American people,” President-elect Biden said.

“With their varied and diverse backgrounds, they bring a shared commitment to tackling the crises facing America, helping us become a stronger, more united nation,” he said.

“These deeply experienced public servants reflect the very best of our nation, and they will be ready to get to work building a country that lifts up all Americans. Their counsel and expertise are grounded in a commitment to making sure our economy works for working people and all those looking to work,” said Harris.

“And their leadership will be critical as we work to meet the challenges facing the American people — from the Coronavirus pandemic to this economic recession to our climate crisis and long-overdue reckoning on racial injustice. I am proud to announce these individuals will be joining my team and look forward to working alongside them each and every day,” Harris said.

Sabrina Singh’s father, Manjit Singh, was born in the U.S. in New York, in 1956, but when he was just five, her grandparents moved the family to independent India and to New Delhi. Manjit and his brother Man Mohan grew up in Delhi.  After J.J. Singh died in 1976, Manjit Singh, who was chairman and CEO of Sony India, and her mom Srila Singh, decided to immigrate to the U.S.

In an interview to India Abroad in February this year, Singh said, her grandfather had died “when my dad was about 18 years old and I never knew much about my grandfather although my parents tangentially mentioned him every so often.”

“But, I didn’t really learn about what he was doing in the US and why he was here until I was in college and began to understand the significant impact he had, and then I found myself feeling so proud of him and really inspired and interested in government and from then on, I always wanted to do something good and make a difference and I came to D.C., inspired by the election of Barack Obama, after I graduated and led me to where I am today,” she added.

Sabrina Singh, influenced by her parents and grandfather, she never knew, 

tweeted in May on the support and inspiration she found in her grandfather and her parents, when she wrote, “And to my incredible parents, who immigrated from New Delhi to LA in the 1980s and taught me to always fight for what I believe in.”

Sabrina Singh is an alumna of the University of Southern California and majored in International Relations. She began her career at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) as the press assistant, which was the first exposure to political campaigns.

She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two dogs.

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Anu Ghosh immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1999. Back in India she was a journalist for the Times of India in Pune for 8 years and a graduate from the Symbiosis Institute of Journalism and Communication. In the U.S., she obtained her Masters and PhD. in Communications from The Ohio State University. Go Buckeyes! She has been involved in education for the last 15 years, as a professor at Oglethorpe University and then Georgia State University. She currently teaches Special Education at Oak Grove Elementary. She is also a mom to two precocious girls ages 11 and 6.