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The Obama Foundation is looking for 100 unpaid volunteers to work alongside the former president’s highly paid cronies at the $850 million Obama Presidential Center in Chicago when it opens in June.
Officials are pitching the no-paycheck gigs as rooted in former President Barack Obama’s legacy of civic engagement. The recruitment campaign comes after Digital reported that the organization’s CEO, former top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, earned $740,000 in 2024.
Foundation officials told Digital the volunteers will complement about 300 full- and part-time employees at the long-delayed center, which the organization is promoting as a $3.1 billion economic catalyst for the Windy City’s South Side.
The new program will see 75 to 100 volunteers, known as “ambassadors,” greet and direct visitors around the campus and share information about exhibits at the 22-story museum tower, athletic center and Chicago Public Library branch, among other amenities. It is expected to expand in the future.
The foundation describes the volunteer program as a key component of its mission, saying volunteers represent its values both onsite and in the community.
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Obama Foundation Democracy Forum Chicago December 2024 (REUTERS/Vincent Alban)
It is unclear what the salary range for those paid workers will be. However, the foundation’s most recent tax filings provide insight into compensation at the organization’s senior levels.
Federal filings viewed by Digital show Jarrett earned $740,000 in 2024, 2023 and 2022, while several former Obama White House officials have collected six-figure salaries as foundation executives.
Total salaries and benefits at the foundation climbed from $18.5 million in 2018 to $43.7 million in 2024 as staffing expanded to 337 employees and annual revenue reached nearly $210 million, according to the filings. The foundation’s main office is located in Chicago’s Hyde Park, where it runs leadership and community programs in the U.S. and abroad.
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Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett, left, and the Obama Presidential Center under construction in Chicago’s Jackson Park, right. The Foundation reported nearly $210 million in total revenue in 2024, according to federal filings. (Fox 32; Steven Ferdman/Getty)
Still, the foundation is looking to have a cohort of unpaid volunteers help out at the new presidential center. It’s common for presidential libraries, museums and nonprofit cultural institutions to employ unpaid volunteers.
“Volunteerism has been central to President Obama’s vision of civic life since his earliest days as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side,” the foundation said in a press release.
Jarrett, one of the Obamas’ closest advisors, said in a statement that the center will be “a place where the world meets the best of the city of Chicago, and our volunteers will help bring that vision to life every day.”
She became CEO in 2021 and is overseeing development of the 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park.
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The foundation has promoted the center as a catalyst for economic revitalization on Chicago’s South Side, citing $3.1 billion in projected economic activity over 10 years and 5,000 construction jobs tied to the $850 million campus. Those figures come from an economic assessment conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP.
According to the foundation, more than 50% of construction contracts have been awarded to diverse firms, 33% of the construction workforce has come from South and West Side communities, and 798 residents have enrolled in construction pre-apprenticeship programs.
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The main tower of the Obama Presidential Center rises above Jackson Park in Chicago as construction continues on the privately run campus. (Fox 32 Chicago)
The center is scheduled to open on Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
Other former Obama administration officials have also earned substantial compensation at the foundation in past years, including former White House political director David Simas, who earned more than $600,000 annually while leading the organization from 2017 to 2020, and Adewale Adeyemo, who later became Biden’s deputy Treasury secretary and earned roughly $540,000 during his tenure.
Several other senior leaders with Obama administration ties have earned between roughly $300,000 and $400,000 annually, according to tax filings.
