Indian American Dilpreet Sidhu Named Deputy Chief of Staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks

Dilpreet Sidhu, who served in the White House from Day One as the principal deputy executive secretary of the National Security Council (NSC), recently departed to become deputy chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. She previously served on the Biden-Harris transition team.  

Before that, she served as the director of International Relations to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, according to her LinkedIn page. She also worked at the NSC during the Obama Administration as a special assistant to National Security Advisor Susan Rice. The Indian American has also worked in the U.S. Department of State, including assignments as a Foreign Affairs Officer on the India Desk, Economic Officer in Iraq and India, and Staff Assistant to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. 

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, 2020 AAPI Next Generation National Security Leader at New America, and former U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholar in Punjabi. A native of northern Virginia, she received her B.A. in English literature and religious studies from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Sidhu will work with another Indian American — Radha Iyengar Plumb — chief of staff to Hicks. Last month, she was nominated by President Joe Biden to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense. 

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Her experience includes leadership positions at Google and Facebook, economics work at the RAND Corp., stints at the Departments of Defense, Energy and the National Security Council, and academic research in health policy.