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Inside The Beltway

Young Metro Detroiters take on key government roles.

Robin Schwartz
Special to the Jewish News

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t's safe to say they have some pull in
our nation's capital. Take Lisa Ellman,
for example. During a recent White
House staff picnic, the 31-year-old who
grew up in Southfield and Bloomfield
Hills leaned in and grabbed the hand
of her former professor at University of
Chicago Law School who just happens to
be President Barack Obama. She smiled
for a quick snapshot. Not too many people
can get that close to the leader of the free
world.
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity to
serve this historic administration:' Ellman
says. "As one of the president's former
students, it's been amazing to watch him
grow to become the leader he is today."

77:

President Barack Obama with Lisa

Ellman on the White House lawn

Ellman is currently senior counsel
for the Office of Legal Policy at the
Department of Justice, a post she landed
after a whirlwind two years. Back in
March 2007, she left a good-paying job
at a Washington, D.C., law firm to work
exclusively on Obama's campaign.
After the election, she was legal director
in the White House Office of Presidential
Personnel, managing the legal presidential
nominations and appointments process.
Now, she spends her days attending meet-
ings, drafting legal and policy memos
and working to develop policy initiatives
designed to help everyday Americans.

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Rachel Tronstein,

Zack Schram,

liana Levinson,

Lisa Ellman,

Michael Simon and

Eric Feldman

0 2009 Lloyd Wolf

Beltway on page 12

November 19 • 2009 11