Former Hip-Hop Journalist Named White House Social Secretary

Social Secretary Deesha Dyer sits in Green Room of the White House, Feb. 11, 2014.

From Billboard:

A former hip-hop journalist who became a White House intern in her 30s was named on Thursday as the new White House social secretary. Deesha Dyer, a Philadelphia native, will oversee planning for everything from the annual Easter Egg Roll attended by tens of thousands of people to opulent state dinners for hundreds, along with numerous receptions, ceremonies and other events that take place daily at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Before starting her career in government, Dyer was an assistant at Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and a freelance journalist covering East Coast hip-hop culture, often for the Philadelphia CityPaper.

Dyer returned to college at age 29 and earned a degree from the Community College of Philadelphia. She joined the White House in 2009 as a 31-year-old intern in the office of scheduling and advance. She was brought on full-time a year later, beginning as associate director for scheduling correspondence and working her way up to deputy social secretary in 2013.