The 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London don’t start for another week, but Kansas Citian Roshann Parris is already there leading the U.S. presidential delegation Olympics coordinating team that will manage all aspects of first lady Michelle Obama’s visit.
Parris said the first lady’s visit include representing the United States at the Opening Ceremony, meeting with U.S. athletes competing in London, and through the first lady’s “Let’s Move!” initiative, joining with the delegation to encourage kids to be active in their daily lives.
“The USOC and national governing bodies have committed to providing free or low-cost athletic programming to more than 1.7 million American kids in 2012, as part of this ‘Let’s Move’ effort,” Parris said.
Parris, president and CEO of Parris Communications, a Kansas City-based public relations and marketing communications firm she founded in 1988, has been coordinating events on a presidential scale for almost 30 years. Her first such experience was in 1984 when she joined the advance staff of vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro on the Mondale-Ferraro presidential campaign. During the Clinton administration she accompanied the president and first lady to more than 50 countries.
She has been working with the Obamas since the summer of 2008, when she led a team to Europe to coordinate then-Sen. Barack Obama’s first overseas trip. Since that time, she has served the White House in several capacities, including coordination of the president and first lady’s recent visits to the NATO Summit in Strasbourg, France, Baden-Baden, Germany, and Moscow.