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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 presenting the unpaid jobs as rooted in former President Barack Obama's legacy of civic engagement. The recruiting drive comes after Fox News Digital reported that the organization's CEO, former top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, earned $740,000 in 2024.
Foundation officials told Fox News Digital that the volunteers will supplement 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.
In the new program, between 75 and 100 volunteers, known as “ambassadors,” will greet and direct visitors around campus and share information about exhibits in the 22-story museum tower, sports 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 on site and in the community.
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Obama Foundation Democracy Forum Chicago December 2024 (REUTERS/Vincent Albán)
It is unclear what the salary range will be for those salaried workers. However, the foundation's most recent tax filings provide information about compensation at the top levels of the organization.
Federal documents seen by Fox News Digital show Jarrett earned $740,000 in 2024, 2023 and 2022, while several former Obama White House officials have earned six-figure salaries as foundation executives.
The foundation's total salaries and benefits increased from $18.5 million in 2018 to $43.7 million in 2024, as staff 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 community and leadership 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)
Even so, the foundation seeks to have a group of unpaid volunteers to help in the new presidential center. It is 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 early days as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side,” the foundation said in a news release.
Jarrett, one of the Obamas' closest advisers, said in a statement that the center will be “a place where the world will encounter the best of the city of Chicago, and our volunteers will help make that vision a reality every day.”
She became executive director in 2021 and oversees the 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 evaluation conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP.
According to the foundation, more than 50% of construction contracts have been awarded to various companies, 33% of the construction workforce comes from South and Westside 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 June 16, 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 recent years, including former White House political director David Simas, who earned more than $600,000 a year while running the organization from 2017 to 2020, and Adewale Adeyemo, who later became Biden's deputy Treasury secretary and earned approximately $540,000 during his tenure.
Several other top leaders with ties to the Obama administration have earned between about $300,000 and $400,000 a year, according to tax filings.
