Rachel Palermo, a third-year Notre Dame Law student will work as assistant press secretary to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated next week, according to a Jan. 8 Biden-Harris press release.
Palermo completed her undergraduate degree at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and from there, worked for the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election as Assistant Press Secretary and Director of Women’s Media. While she was in college, she interned at the Department of Justice.
She also worked as a legal extern for former South Bend Mayor and democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s campaign, while she was a second-year law student. Since the fall of 2020, Palermo has worked remotely as part of the Biden-Harris Transition communications team.
Palermo’s position was announced in the press release detailing new staff to the Office of the Vice President.
“These deeply experienced public servants reflect the very best of our nation, and they will be ready to get to work building a country that lifts up all Americans,” Harris said in the release. “I am proud to announce these individuals will be joining my team and look forward to working alongside them each and every day.”
Palermo is from Minnesota and is the daughter of a Lebanese immigrant. According to a Thursday post from the Law School, during her time at Notre Dame, Palermo held the roles of president of the Women’s Legal Forum and managing articles editor for the Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, in addition to being an oralist for the Moot Court Board.
