March 15, 2019
Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama last year signed a deal with Netflix to produce original TV shows and movies. In fact, Netflix seems to be something of a home in exile for the Obama Administration.
Susan Rice, Obama’s UN ambassador, has joined the firm’s board, while Ferial Govashiri, Obama’s personal secretary is now chief of staff to Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer.
Govashiri’s family moved to the US when she was just six months old. She studied political science at the University of California at Irvine, working on local political campaigns and planning for law school after graduation. Soon realizing that her heart was on the campaign trail and that law school was her parents’ dream, not her own, Govashiri gained their support to work for The Strategy Group, a political consulting firm in Los Angeles.
In 2007, she joined the presidential campaign of then-Senator Barack Obama. President Obama’s election led to eight years in the White House, the first five years on the staff of the National Security Council where she planned and managed presidential trips abroad. She spent the last three years as his personal secretary, occupying the desk just outside the door to the Oval Office and probably spending more time with him than anyone else in the government.
Now the 36-year-old has also become a public speaker with her engagements arranged by the American Program Bureau in Newton, Massachusetts. Her speeches talk of the immigrant experience and her parents’ adjustment to a new life in a new country. She also speaks about women in government and how to break the glass ceiling. Her three rules for women to get ahead: never cry, never run, and never raise your voice. And, of course, she talks about working day-by-day next to Obama.