Hannah August is the Press Secretary for the First Lady of the United States

First Lady of the United States

First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...

, Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...

. She was previously a White House

White House Office

The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The White House Office is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, which was temporarily Pete Rouse, replaced on January 6, 2010 with the permanent appointment of William M. Daley, who is also...

 regional communications director and a spokeswoman at United States Department of Justice

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

.

Early life and education

Hannah August is the daughter of Charles "Buddy" August, a former council member

Council-manager government

The council–manager government form is one of two predominant forms of municipal government in the United States; the other common form of local government is the mayor-council government form, which characteristically occurs in large cities...

 of Livingston, New Jersey

Livingston, New Jersey

Livingston is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 29,366.Livingston was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 5, 1813, from portions of Caldwell Township and Springfield...

. She graduated from Livingston High School

Livingston High School (New Jersey)

Livingston High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Livingston, in Essex County, New Jersey, operating as part of the Livingston Public Schools. It receives all eighth grade graduates from Heritage Middle School...

 in 2001. She graduated from University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 in 2005 with major in International Relations.

Career experience

After graduation, August worked as the Press Assistant for Senator Bob Menendez. She served as Deputy Communications Director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States Senate. It is the only organization solely dedicated to electing Democrats to the United States Senate. The DSCC's current chair is Sen. Patty Murray, who succeeded Sen. Robert Menendez following...

 in June 2007 after Deirdre Murphy left the post. August joined the Department of Justice as a spokeswoman in which she handled the press communications in high profile cases such as BP oil spill

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...

 and the department's lawsuit against the state of Arizona related to immigration law.

August joined the White House in 2010 as Regional Communications Director in charge of press for the South, parts of the mid-Atlantic, and Missouri, and crafted press strategy on Administration policy impacting women. She joined the First Lady's Office as the Press Secretary on May 25, 2011.