DC resident lands Obama administration job

Marcus Anthony Williams is sitting in Alero Restaurant at 1301 U Street in Northwest Washington. He is wearing a pink shirt with perfectly matched pink-stripped tie, which accentuates his handsome, youthful looks. He just turned 25, and he and a friend, Jenell Brown,scheduler and office manager for Congressman Danny Davis, are at the restaurant to celebrate his birthday.But Williams and Brown have another reason to be jubilant. Williams has landed a job in President Obama's Administration as communications and public liaison in the Office of Personnel Management.

"It was sort of by accident, by way of a chance meeting," Williams gushed, relishing the moment a woman at a National Association of Black Owned Broadcaster, Communications Awards Dinner approached him.

"She came over and said she really loved my spirit and my personality," Williams said.

The woman was Jackie Parker, legislative director for Carl Levin, U.S. Senator from Michigan. She asked Williams if he would become involved in a summer conference that encourages young people to become involved in legislation and policy. This encounter would steer him to a future position on Capitol Hill.

"I saw something in him and as we talked, he listened intently," Parker said. "He had a look on his face and when he wasn't speaking, he was grasping every word. In all of my years of recruiting, I could tell that I was connecting. Marcus was serious, motivated."

Williams grew up in the Randle Highlands community, just a few blocks south of Capitol Hill. But public service was not a career he had given a thought. He attended Garfield Elementary in Southeast Washington, DC, then Jefferson Junior High, and completed high school at Benjamin Banneker in Northwest. DC and the federal government were all familiar stuff.

"It's not that I was opposed to the government," he said. "It was more or less that I have been around the government since birth. So to me it wasn't anything exciting. When you ride by the monument and the Capitol everyday on your way to high school, it loses its luster."

But with a sense of realism, Williams added: "But let's be real, who in their right mind is going to turn down Capitol Hill?" Williams asked gleefully.

His first job on Capitol Hill was a clerk for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in February of 2008. After only three months, he was promoted to Clerk/Press Secretary.

Dealing with the media came relatively easy for Williams. His degree in broadcast journalism from Penn State University in 2007 and his work at the Washington Afro Newspaper had prepared him for work as a press secretary. He is also a freelance journalist with clients that include Sister 2 Sister magazine, and Gussie Clyde Entertainment.

Williams attributes his success to his grandmother Lula Edmonds.

"Just thinking about her right now is causing me tear up," he said. "She was bed-ridden and I remember running home after school to relieve the home nurse. I would take care of my granny until my mother, who usually worked late, came home to cook dinner. She would make sure I did my homework and even though her education didn't exceed sixth grade, she was so wise and strong."

His grandmother showed Williams that no matter how hard things might get or how "unable" people may think they are, they should always give life their all and have faith that anything can happen.

Williams's grandmother died in 1994 but he is certain she would be happy to see her grandson take on the challenges of a media job on Capitol Hill.

"You have to immerse yourself in all of the policy," Williams said. "I prefer e-mail inquiries rather than reporters calling me directly and shooting off questions." E-mails give Williams time to investigate legislation or issues reporters are interested in.

"Often, the legislation or issues are so new that I'm not up-to-speed on them," he said. "So I check with the policy people before responding to e-mail inquiries."

Although Williams' early career aspiration was to be an on-air talent, working in government has grown on him.

"This career is better; it's more meaningful," he said. "You know that when the reporters at CNN are reporting about an issue from your Committee that you are the person responsible for getting not only the outlet the information but ultimately informing the American people.