Alaskan leaves top White House post

WASHINGTON — Alaskan Raina Thiele headed to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for her last day at work Friday as a liaison to Native organizations and tribes for President Barack Obama.

Thiele was born and raised in Alaska to parents of Dena'ina Athabascan, Yup'ik and German heritage; holds degrees from Yale University (a bachelor's degree in political science) and Harvard University (a master's degree in public policy), and helped organize Obama's historic three-day visit to Alaska last summer.

The 33-year-old also had a hand in the Obama administration's Native and Indian youth initiative Generation Indigenous, leading planning for the White House Tribal Nations Conference and the first-time White House Tribal Youth Gathering, according to the White House. Her other duties related to the president's Arctic and climate plans, working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and helping tribes access health care.

[From Harvard to White House, Alaskan helps shape Obama's Native agenda]

Alaska's senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, called her the state's "secret agent" in the White House. Reggie Joule, former Northwest Arctic Borough mayor, said she gave Alaska Natives a direct route to the Obama administration, bringing many Alaskans within the White House walls.

Top White House officials sent kind parting words for Thiele. Senior presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett said Thiele's efforts "will not only continue to reverberate throughout the Administration's work but … have improved the lives of so many in Indian Country. She will be thoroughly missed."

Jerry Abramson, chief of intergovernmental affairs at the White House and former lieutenant governor of Kansas, lauded Thiele's work as having "a far-reaching impact," particularly in providing tribal leaders and youths with "exceptional access to the highest level Administration officials."

Theile, who worked at the Office of Management and Budget before heading over to the White House, credited Obama with being "exceptionally committed to supporting people from all walks of life, uplifting communities reaching for prosperity, and striving for equality for all. I've never seen a president so committed to tribal issues such as sovereignty, Native youth and public safety, to name just a few," she said.

Thiele said she plans to return to Alaska for a bit of rest before going back to Washington, D.C.