The White House, where the US president resides, was the last place Khanya Brann anticipated finding employment. Most immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago never know where life will take them or what kind of work they will undertake.
During a mid-December WhatsApp chat while organizing an interview for her week-long Trinidadian Christmas break, Brann stated, “Oh, President (Joe) Biden just walked by.”
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The excitement in his voice outweighed any possible worries about an uncertain future as Biden’s presidency drew to a conclusion, and seeing President Biden never became old.
Brann, 28, has never really stopped moving. When asked where she’s from, she naturally responds, “Trinidad.” Born in London, she lived there for a year before moving to Montreal, Canada, and then to Mount Hope, Trinidad, where she attended St. Xavier’s Private School in St. Joseph, for seven years. Her family then moved back to Montreal for another year before moving to the US, thanks to her father Stacey’s work as a surgeon.
Her family relocated to Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 20 minutes from Philadelphia, in 2009 when she was nine years old, and she attended Temple University to study journalism, graduating in May 2019.
Brann shared, “I wanted to be a feature writer and work at the Philadelphia Enquirer, but they weren’t hiring.”
When the Biden campaign headquarters in Philadelphia began hiring in July 2019, Brann accepted the position as a paid communications intern for $15 per hour. It was an exciting, fast-paced position that called for communication and organizational abilities.
“It involved a lot of media monitoring, compiling media lists and daily media clips, and transcribing Biden’s speeches,” noted Brann.
Brann added, “When Biden began his bid for the presidency, there was a lot of work to do from the ground up. It was fun, certainly stressful, and a steep learning curve because I had no political experience. I got a good foundation for the work I do now.”
The internship was from July through November 2019. Brann served as a communications fellow for Philly Counts, a project related to the city’s census, from January to July 2020.
“We needed to make sure everyone got counted in that census to get a clear idea of programs needed.”
Brann then returned to the Biden/Harris campaign, this time as a communications associate for Pennsylvania.
Brann received a text message from White House communications director Kate Bedingfield on New Year’s Eve, 2019, while she was at home with her family. The text asked if she would be interested in working at the White House.
“I said, ‘Yes, absolutely.’ When I showed the message to my mom (Karen), she was speechless.”
In January 2020, Brann moved to Washington, DC, and took a position in a White House office a short distance from Biden’s Oval Office, where he served as Bedingfield’s senior communications assistant and special assistant.
Even so, she was constantly on the go, spending a year as the deputy press secretary for the Environmental Protection Agency. In late October 2023, she made her way back to the White House to work as a senior communications adviser in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Brann’s career in political communications had advanced rapidly.
Brann commented on her growth, “It’s been good. I have been lucky. I had a lot of opportunities to grow and learn with good mentors and managers.”
She frequently traveled around the United States to promote Biden/Harris social programs.
“I worked with mayors, governors and tribal leaders.”
Her work has been filled with remarkable experiences, including housing, clean water efforts, communication improvement, and delivering high-speed internet access to underserved and distant places.
“In Wisconsin, a family drank water from lead pipes for 40 years. Thanks to the Biden administration, they finally got those pipes replaced.”
“When a family in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania got a home through a housing initiative, their 18-year old son said, ‘This is the first time I lived in a house with a backyard.’ “We did a lot of work with veterans.”
Brann recalls a homeless veteran who, at age 51, was able to purchase a home. “He said, ‘I never thought I’d be able to own something like this.’”
She noted, “Before I entered government, I didn’t understand how long it took to get things done. I know now how hard it is to make progress. Working from the inside, I see the legwork, the months of negotiations, language, phrasing and avenues of communication it takes so that an initiative resonates with enough people for it to make progress.”
Brann states that as the Biden administration is ready to step down,“ We built on a historic amount of progress we achieved over the last four years. It’s impressive how much we accomplished in the shadow of the pandemic. I’m proud we have the first black woman on the Supreme Court and the number of local judges President Biden appointed who are women, people of color and Native Americans.”
Brann intends to relocate to New York once her current job is over and she has time to recover. She is unsure of the type of work she will be doing.
“I’m excited to see what the future holds. I want to devote time to short story writing. I enjoy reading short stories about belonging, identity and connections. Ultimately, I want to write and produce movies.”
She is not, however, doing away with government employment.
“Politics is something you can always return to in this world,” Brann stated.
“There’s a lot of public/private in and out, and that’s good. It helps you understand how systems on both sides work.”
She still has optimism for the future even though she had wanted to implement Biden’s social programs for four more years.
“So here we are. This is the ride we’re on. This is what we sign up for when we give all of ourselves to this work and this mission. It can break your heart sometimes.”
Brann added, “I recently went to a party hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris, and she said, ‘Sometimes we have to hold joy and pain in the same hand at the same time.’ I will hold on to that thought. She reminded us the work continues. It never stops.”
Brann claims to have discovered that advancement requires time. “It’s not linear. This work requires an immense amount of patience, empathy, and thinking beyond yourself. I’ve found my voice, honed my voice and my leadership skills.”
Brann will continue to work at the White House and will treasure the experiences when she returns to Washington, DC.
“I had the opportunity to bring my parents to the White House for July 4 celebrations that honored essential workers. As a surgeon, my dad is one of them. I saw his big, wide grin that day. It meant a lot to us as an immigrant family.”
“We became citizens in 2017. The first time we could vote as a family was for Biden in 2020.”
Her sister Dariya is thrilled to have followed in her footsteps by preparing Biden’s travels while interning at the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance.
Brann noted, “Everyone talks about how special it is to be a child of immigrants.” Adding, “My parents left everything behind to make a better path for me.”
She was taught two key T&T principles by them: the value of education and “always remember where you came from. Honor your roots,” Brann noted.
Before departing, Brann says she will visit her first office in the West Wing, next to Biden’s office, on January 6, 2025, to take one final glance at the large mahogany desk where she worked and to reflect on the incredible journey she undertook to get there.
Story credit: T&T Newsday
