Reema Dodin
Reema Dodin is an American political advisor serving as the deputy director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs in the Biden administration. Upon taking office, she became the highest ranking Palestinian-American woman to serve in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. She is the former deputy chief of staff and floor director for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. Early life and education. Reema Dodin was born in North Carolina. Her parents, Bajis and Samia Dodin, are Palestinian. Dodin's parents immigrated to the United States in the 1970s from Dura, Hebron in  the West Bank. Her grandfather is Mustafa Dodin, a social affairs minister in Jordan who was involved Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in the 1970s. Dodin earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley in political science and economics in 2002. While there, she participated in social justice and public health work. In 2006, Dodin interned in Senator Dick Durbin's office. That same year, she earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Career. Dodin returned to work for Senator Dick Durbin after graduation in the fall of 2006. Her early years with  Durbin were spent as an aide for the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary's subcommittee on human rights. Dodin’s latter years were spent in his leadership whip office, as counsel, then director, and then as his deputy chief of staff, managing his whip and floor operations. His farewell address for her noted her contributions to several major legislative items. Dodin volunteered as voter protection counsel through several elections. She volunteered for President Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign focusing on voter rights and for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. She has also volunteered as voting rights  counsel for several senate campaigns including those of Senator Joe Donnelly and Senator Jon Tester. In 2017, she co-authored "Inside Congress: A Guide for Navigating the Politics of the House and Senate Floors" published by the Brookings Institution. Ms. Dodin served as a Term Member on the Council of Foreign Relations. She is also a fellow for the Truman National Security Project and the New Leaders Council. In November 2020, Dodin began working, as a volunteer, on the presidential transition of Joe Biden, overseeing legislative engagement between the transition and Capitol Hill on nominations. Dodin was named Deputy Director  of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, alongside Shuwanza Goff, for the Biden administration in November 2020. Her role in the Biden administration makes her the highest ranking Palestinian-American woman to serve in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Personal life. Dodin is the oldest of four siblings. She grew up in Southern California, and has resided mainly in Washington DC since the end of 2006.