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Raffi Freedman-Gurspan is the Deputy Director of Public Engagement at the United States Department of Transportation, appointed by President Joe Biden, where she works on behalf of Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
A dedicated champion of human rights as well as an LGBTQ and gender equality policy expert, Raffi has worked in non-profit and government sectors for over a decade.
Prior to joining USDOT, she was a Deputy States Director for the All On The Line campaign of the National Redistricting Action Fund, an affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee chaired by former US Attorney General Eric Holder, where she oversaw community organizing work in the Midwest and East Coast.
Between 2017 and 2019, Raffi was the Director of External Relations at the National Center for Transgender Equality, where she managed public education and field organizing operations.
Raffi also served in President Barack Obama's administration between 2015 and 2017, working at the White House as a Senior Associate Director for Public Engagement responsible for LGBTQ community affairs, and as an Outreach and Recruitment Director for Presidential Personnel recruiting talent to work in the executive branch of government. Raffi was the first openly transgender staffer to work at the White House in history and, before leaving office, President Obama appointed Raffi to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which she served on between 2017-2022.
Before moving to Washington, DC, Raffi's experience included working in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a Legislative Director; for the City of Somerville, Massachusetts as the Mayor's LGBTQ Liaison; at the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition as a Legislative and Policy Staffer; and as a Course and Research Assistant at Boston University's Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program.
A graduate of St. Olaf College in Minnesota, Raffi was adopted from Honduras and grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts.