Indian American Megha Bhattacharya Joins White House as Press Assistant

Megha Bhattacharya, most recently communications assistant for Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, has joined the White House as a press assistant. Bhattacharya announced her departure from the Second Gentleman’s staff in a tweet on March 1. 

In a reply, Press Secretary Jen Psaki wrote: “Thank you @SecondGentleman for letting us steal the fabulous @mbhattacharya46 for team press.”

Illinois native Bhattacharya graduated from the University of Chicago with an honors degree in Political Science. She then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to work for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign. Afterward, she worked for the Democratic National Convention, helping run the first-ever completely digital Democratic Convention. She also worked on the Biden-Harris presidential campaign. 

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During her time at UChicago, Bhattacharya interned twice at the university’s Institute of Politics, run by former President Barack Obama’s Senior Advisor David Axelrod, according to her profile on the Elgin Area School District U46 website. She also interned for JB Pritzker’s Gubernatorial campaign and worked abroad in Vienna, Austria for the State Department’s U.S. Mission to International Organizations, serving the United Nations and International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Indian American told U-46 that she “credits” her 2014-15 role as the Board of Education’s Student Advisor for inspiring much of her college work. “I was very lucky to meet such a large cross-sample of the District and create lasting relationships with them,” Megha said. “I received an insider view of the workings of a large conglomerate and it was such a fascinating and educational experience.”