WASHINGTON — Days ahead of his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden hired Jeff Marootian to join his climate team and Ike Hajinazarian to serve as a regional communications director.
Marootian has served as Director of the DC District Department of Transportation (DDOT) since 2017, where during his tenure, has worked to improve street safety measures by expanding services aimed at decreasing traffic congestion and increasing access to public transportation and the city’s micro-mobility program. Before joining DDOT, Marootian was a member of the US Department of Transportation leadership team as a Chief Sustainability Officer, where he directed the implementation of President Obama’s Executive Order on Federal Sustainability.
The New Jersey native is an alumnus of the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Administration where he is currently an adjunct faculty member. He is the former Director of the Democratic National Committee’s Ethnic Outreach Committee and LGBTQ+ Outreach Committee.
Prior to being appointed to his current position, Hajinazarian served on the Biden campaign as the Western Pennsylvania Regional Press Secretary. He has worked as a Press Assistant to Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana and later worked as Deputy Press Secretary on the House Homeland Security Committee’s Majority Staff.
Hajinazarian, a first generation Armenian-American was born in Ohio to immigrant parents. He earned his degree in Journalism from Indiana University and a Political Management graduate degree from George Washington University.
