Obama Foundation seeks 100 unpaid volunteers for $850M center opening

The Obama Foundation is seeking 100 unpaid volunteers to work alongside the former president’s highly paid friends at the $850 million Obama Presidential Center in Chicago when it opens in June.

Officials argue that the unpaid demonstrations have their roots in former President Barack Obama’s legacy of civic engagement. The hiring campaign comes after Fox News Digital reported that the organization’s CEO, former top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, will earn $740,000 in 2024.

Foundation officials told Fox News Digital that the volunteers would complement about 300 full- and part-time employees at the long-delayed center, which the organization has touted as a $3.1 billion economic catalyst for the Windy City’s South Side.

In the new program, 75 to 100 volunteers, known as “ambassadors,” will greet and direct visitors on 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 become widespread in the future.

The foundation describes its volunteer program as a key component of its mission and says volunteers represent its values ​​both on the field and in the community.

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It is unclear what the salary range of salaried employees will be. But the foundation’s latest tax returns provide insight into compensation at the organization’s upper levels.

Federal filings viewed by the Fox News Digital show show Jarrett earned $740,000 in 2024, 2023 and 2022, while several former Obama White House officials collected six-figure salaries as foundation executives.

According to the filings, the foundation’s total salaries and benefits increased from $18.5 million in 2018 to $43.7 million in 2024; According to applications, the number of personnel reached 337 employees and annual revenue reached approximately 210 million dollars. The Foundation’s main office is in Chicago’s Hyde Park, where it operates leadership and community programs in the United States 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’s total revenue in 2024 was reported to be approximately $210 million, according to federal records. (Fox 32; Steven Ferdman/Getty)

Still, the foundation is looking for a group of unpaid volunteers to help with the new presidential center. It is common for presidential libraries, museums, and non-profit cultural institutions to employ unpaid volunteers.

“Volunteering has been central to President Obama’s vision for civic life since his early days as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side,” the foundation said. he said. Press release.

Jarrett, one of Obama’s closest advisers, 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.”

He became CEO in 2021 and is overseeing the development of the 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park.

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The foundation has touted the center as a catalyst for economic revitalization on Chicago’s South Side, citing projected economic activity of $3.1 billion over 10 years and 5,000 construction jobs tied to the $850 million campus. These figures come from an economic evaluation conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP.

More than 50 percent of construction contracts were awarded to various firms, 33 percent of the construction workforce came from South and West Side communities, and 798 residents were enrolled in pre-construction apprenticeship programs, according to the foundation.

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The Obama Presidential Center’s main tower towers over Chicago’s Jackson Park as construction continues on the privately operated campus. (Fox 32 Chicago)

The center is scheduled to open on Juneteenth, the federal holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States.

Other former Obama administration officials also received significant compensation from the foundation in past years, including former White House political director David Simas, who earned more than $600,000 annually while running the organization from 2017 to 2020, and Adewale Adeyemo, who later became Biden’s deputy Treasury secretary and earned about $540,000 during his tenure.

Some other senior leaders with ties to the Obama administration earn about $300,000 to $400,000 a year, according to tax returns.