Roger Fisk had a key "behind the scenes role" in the election of President Obama. The Obama election campaign is widely regarded as the best run Presidential campaign ever. Following the campaign he served as the Cabinet Liaison for the Presidential Inauguration and then became a presidential appointee in the Obama Administration.
Roger started working for the campaign in 2007. For the next 22 months, Roger travelled through 32 states with Senator Obama, and was at the Senator’s side as the country was introduced to the young man who would win the Presidency and make history.
Roger was hired by the Obama Team as the National Director of Special Events in what would become a history making Finance Department. Here he managed a nationwide grass-roots fundraising team that revolutionised modern political fundraising, totaling US$100 million in 11 months while building the largest donor base in American history.
Roger supervised teams in 27 states with direct managerial responsibility for event and advertising budgets, site selection, appropriation of staff resources, cultivation of targeted free media, coordination of web outreach, and collaboration with local, state and national elected officials.
He also served as principal liaison with US Secret Service and local law enforcement, and was directly responsible for coordinating and managing the media’s coverage of over 150 events across the country. In the Autumn of 2007 he was asked to focus on a critical early state, becoming the Director of Scheduling and Advance in New Hampshire where Senator Obama was behind significantly.
Prior to his work for President Obama, Roger worked for Deval Patrick’s successful campaign for Governor of Massachusetts. All of this experience came from his work for Senator John Kerry, where he served as his Senior Aide in the US Senate for Communication and Policy. He advised Senator Kerry on a wide-range of politically sensitive issues, including Medicare, AIDS, community health, and child nutrition. He worked for the Kerry Presidential campaign from its very first day to its last.
His Presidential appointment in the Commerce Department requires him to co-ordinate diplomatic and trade missions for the Cabinet and President. He has served as Lead USG Coordinator on trade missions through India and China and co-ordinated the Cabinet’s role in both the 2009 COP-15 Global Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. He served as President Obama’s point person at the 2011 G8 Summit in Deauville, France.
These experiences provide Roger with a deep understanding of 21st century Presidential politics, how America’s political system impacts the rest of the world and the rapidly shifting cultural landscape they play out on.