Obama appoints Indian American to key White House post

US president Barack Obama has appointed Indian-American Nicholas Rathod, who was part of his 15-member transition team, to a key White House post.

Rathod, 33, will serve as Deputy associate director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. He worked as director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama-Biden Transition Project earlier.

Two other deputy associate directors of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs - Jodi Archambault Gillette and Michael Blake – were also announced on Friday.

"These individuals bring diverse experiences and a deep passion for public service to my administration," Obama said, adding: "I am confident that Jodi, Michael and Nick will be valuable members of our team."

As one of the co-founders of South Asian for Obama (SAFO), Rathod played a leading role in mobilising Indian American community for the Democrat during the presidential polls.

Rathod also worked as deputy director of Federal Affairs Office for governor David Paterson (NY) and senior manager of State and Regional Affairs for the Center for American Progress.

As a community organiser, Rathod has been organising Washington's immigrant communities around language access issues.

As a civil rights attorney, he represented minority communities who were discriminated against in lending, including a one billion dollar settlement on behalf of African American farmers.

Rathod is the recipient of the Frederick B Abramson award recognising Washington's top public interest attorneys and is the 2005 National South Asian Bar Association's national public interest attorney of the year.