Obama speechwriter, Sarada Peri, in conversation with Jess Cunniffe

23rd European Speechwriter Network Conference, 17-19 April 2024 at Robinson College/Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Sarada was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Speechwriter for President Barack Obama. Prior to joining the White House, she was a Principal at West Wing Writers. She was also a member of the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Convention speechwriting teams. Today she runs her own firm, Peri Communications, where she helps C-suite executives, non-profit leaders, philanthropists, and politicians with speechwriting, speech delivery, message strategy, and more. Sarada also writes under her own byline, and has been published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and other outlets.

A recovering policy wonk, Sarada worked in the U.S. Senate as a health care and education legislative staffer. She started her career as a high school English teacher in New Orleans through Teach for America, and is a graduate of Tufts University and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.