First Lady Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama is the First Lady of the United States. Continuing a longstanding tradition, extraordinary Americans who exemplify the themes and ideals laid out in the President’s State of the Union Address attend the event as guests of the First Lady.

Dr. Jill Biden

Jill Biden is the wife of Vice President Biden. An educator and a proud Blue Star mom, Dr. Biden works to highlight the importance of community colleges, to raise awareness about the sacrifices made by military families, and to bring attention to women’s health issues.

Valerie Jarrett

Valerie B. Jarrett is a Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama. She is also the Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls and she oversees the Offices of Intergovernmental Affairs; Public Engagement; Urban Affairs; and Olympic, Paralympic, and Youth Sport.

Sergeant Sheena Adams
Vista, California

A native of Kauai, Hawaii, Sergeant Adams joined the Marine Corps in 2003. Sergeant Adams was deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan as a member of the Female Engagement Team (FET) from September 2010 to April 2011. Sergeant Adams received her Combat Action Ribbon and Navy and Marine Corp Achievement Medal (second award) after successful completion of the deployment. In September 2011, Sergeant Adams returned to 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Advisor Training Cell, as Team Advisor/Liaison and lead FET instructor, where she re-engineered the Period of Instruction for future FETs.

Alan Aleman
Las Vegas, Nevada

Alan Aleman was born in Mexico City, Mexico and attended high school in the U.S. Determined to get a good education, Aleman was one of the first to sign up when he heard the news that the Obama Administration was going to provide Deferred Action for undocumented youth like him to emerge from the shadows. When his application was approved, Aleman said, “I felt the fear vanish. I felt accepted.” Today, Aleman is in his second year at the College of Southern Nevada, studying to become a doctor and he hopes to join the Air Force.

Jack Andraka
Crownsville, Maryland

Jack Andraka, 16, of North County High School, was awarded first place for his new method to detect pancreatic cancer at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2012. Motivated by the death of his uncle due to pancreatic cancer, Jack created a simple dipstick sensor based on diabetic test paper to test blood or urine to determine whether or not a patient has early-stage pancreatic cancer. His study resulted in over 90 percent accuracy and showed his patent-pending sensor to be 28 times faster, 28 times less expensive and over 100 times more sensitive than current tests.

Susan Bumgarner
Norman, Oklahoma

Susan Bumgarner has been an early educator for more than twenty years in Oklahoma, which is a national leader in providing access to high quality preschool for all children. Bumgarner, who was educated at the University of Oklahoma, has written curriculum, trained Head Start teachers, taught infants and toddlers, and prepared parents through Early Birds readiness classes. In 1992 Bumgarner began teaching pre-kindergarten at what is now Wilson Arts Integration Elementary School. “My work is enthralling and my students are amazing, creative, intelligent people,” she said. “It is an honor to facilitate their playful transition into the formal world of learning.”

Deb Carey
New Glarus, Wisconsin

For Deborah Carey and her husband Dan, a master brewer, New Glarus Brewing Company is a true family effort. In 1993, they sold their home and raised $40,000 in seed money, but still needed more funding, which came after investors heard the story Carey pitched to local newspapers. Today, New Glarus Brewing Company has grown to 50 full-time employees, and registered growth in profits of 123 percent from 2007 to 2009, becoming Wisconsin’s number one micro-brewery relative to sales volume.

Sergeant Carlos Evans, USMC
Cameron, North Carolina

Sergeant Carlos Evans, born in Puerto Rico, was on his fourth overseas deployment when he sustained injuries in Afghanistan that resulted in the loss of both of his legs and his left hand. Sergeant Evans credits the support he has received from private organizations to the First Lady and Dr. Biden’s efforts in Joining Forces. In 2012, he received a custom home from Operation Coming Home and now resides in North Carolina with his wife and two young daughters.

Tim Cook
Cupertino, California

Before being named CEO in August 2011, Tim Cook was Apple‘s Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace. Cook earned an M.B.A. from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University.

Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel A. Pendleton Sr.
Chicago, Illinois

Cleopatra and Nathaniel’s daughter Hadiya Pendleton was murdered on January 29, 2013, when she was shot and killed in Harsh Park on Chicago’s South Side. Hadiya had participated in President Obama’s public inaugural celebration on January 21, 2013. She was an honor student and band majorette at King College Prep High School. First Lady Michelle Obama attended Hadiya’s memorial service on Saturday, February 6.

Menchu de Luna Sanchez
Secaucus, New Jersey

When Hurricane Sandy cut the power at NYU Langone Medical Center, Menchu Sanchez, a Registered Nurse, devised a plan to transport twenty at-risk infants to intensive care units around the city, directing the staff to carry the babies down eight flights of stairs with cell phones lighting the way. Sanchez’s own home was flooding, but she thought only of the babies in her care. Sanchez immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in the 1980s and has worked as a nurse in New York for over 25 years. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children, both of whom are in college.

Bobak Ferdowsi
Pasadena, California

Bobak Ferdowsi, aka NASA’s “Mohawk Guy,” is a member of the Mars Curiosity rover team at NASA and Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. After the Curiosity’s successful landing in August 2012, President Obama called to congratulate the team on their success, and singled out Ferdowsi for the unique haircut that captured the imagination of millions of people around the world. Ferdowsi is an Iranian-American and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professional who, in addition to his work on the Mars mission, volunteers as a FIRST robotics mentor to get more boys and girls excited about STEM education.

Bradley Henning
Louisville, Kentucky

His high school had one of the best machining programs in the state, and upon graduation Bradley Henning had taken enough vocational classes to get hired as a full-time apprentice with Atlas Machine and Supply in Louisville, Kentucky. Today, at 23, he is a card-carrying Journeyman Machinist at Atlas, and responsible for mentoring the next generation of apprentices. Henning is committed to a career in manufacturing and sees a bright future ahead. “This will be my lifelong career,” he said. “I come in every day with a smile on my face. I learn something new every day…I love that.”

Tracey Hepner
Arlington, Virginia

Tracey Hepner is a co-founder of the Military Partners and Families Coalition (MPFC), which provides support, resources, education, and advocacy for LGBT military partners and their families. Hepner works full time for the Department of Homeland Security as a Master Behavior Detection Officer. She is married to the first openly gay or lesbian general officer in the military, Army Brigadier General Tammy Smith.

Peter Hudson
Evergreen, Colorado

Dr. Peter Hudson, the co-founder and CEO of iTriage, is a physician and entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience founding and growing healthcare-related businesses. His focus has been on creating efficiencies within the healthcare delivery system, and empowering healthcare consumers with technology. Using open government data, in 2009 Dr. Hudson launched his company focused on prompting citizens to actively engage in their own healthcare. His app enables smartphone users to locate nearby providers based on their symptoms, make appointments, store their personal health records, save medication refill reminders, and learn about thousands of medications, diseases and procedures.

Governor John Kitzhaber (D-OR)

Governor John Kitzhaber has built on his experience as a former emergency room doctor to transform health care delivery in Oregon. Now in his third term, Governor Kitzhaber is working with the Obama administration to scale up innovative models that show how government can do more with less. These performance partnerships, which emphasize federal flexibility and local accountability, are key to building the infrastructure we‘ll need to unleash the 21st century economy and achieving improved health care outcomes and efficiencies and better results for our students.

Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers
Avondale, Arizona

Marie Lopez Rogers served on the Avondale City Council for 14 years before being elected as the city’s first Latina Mayor in 2006. Growing up in migrant farm labor camps and picking cotton alongside her parents, Mayor Rogers never imagined that she would be guiding the transformation of the region. In Dec. 2012, she was named president of the National League of Cities, an organization dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. She and her husband Ed have been married for 43 years and have three children and six grandchildren.

Amanda E. McMillan
Jackson, Mississippi

For years Amanda McMillan worked as a secretary, doing many of the same duties as male salespeople but at lower pay. When she repeatedly asked for a promotion, McMillan was told sales was too dangerous for a woman, and that she would not be a good mother if she were on the road meeting customers. She sued the company for sex discrimination, and won. McMillan brought the suit because, “it was wrong. I could never look my girls in the face and then tell them they live in America and could be anything they wanted to be.” A mother of three, she lives in Jackson, MS.

Lee Maxwell
Wilton, Iowa

In 2012, Lee Maxwell graduated from Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Maxwell gained twenty six separate certifications in everything from reading blueprints to driving forklifts, and today, he’s responsible for turning on the power for new wind turbines that are being built all around the country. Kirkwood started its wind technician training program three years ago in partnership with Iowa-based Clipper Windpower, combining an industry-based curriculum with donated equipment to give students the hands-on experience they need to succeed.

Lieutenant Brian Murphy
Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Lieutenant Brian Murphy was the first police officer to arrive at the scene of the tragic Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin last August. Lt. Murphy confronted the shooter, and took fifteen bullets to his head, neck, and body before the rest of the police force arrived. Lt. Murphy has served as a police officer for over twenty years and previously served in the Marine Corps and the United National security force. He lives with his wife and children in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

Lisa Richards
Arlington, Virginia

Lisa Richards was one of thousands of Americans who shared stories about what paying $2,200 more in taxes would mean for them. The single mom wrote, “It‘s 20 weeks of groceries, two years worth of gasoline, 1/3 of a new roof (which I need), six months of utilities.” With the passage of the middle class tax cuts at the beginning of the year,Richards and millions of Americans like her did not see did not see an income tax increase. Richards and her seven-year old daughter live in Arlington, Virginia.

Katlin Roig
Greenwich, Connecticut

Kaitlin Roig has been a first grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School for six years. Passionate about education and working with children, Roig received her Master’s degree from the NEAG School of Education at the University of Connecticut, where she was a member of the Order of Omega Honor Society, the Historical Honor Society, and the NEAG honor society. Roig started a running club called Marathon Mondays for third and fourth grade students at Sandy Hook Elementary. She will be running the New York City Marathon this year.

Abby Schanfield
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Abby Schanfield would have lost coverage upon turning 21 and would not have been able to obtain care due to her several pre-existing conditions. Schanfield was influenced by her experiences growing up with a chronic illness, and the privileges that come with being insured. A recent graduate of the University of Minnesota, Schanfield hopes to work in public policy, focusing on women’s and community health.

Haile Thomas
Tuscon, Arizona

At 12, Haile Thomas is a Youth Advisory Board member with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the Co-Founder/Director of the HAPPY Organization, an Arizona nonprofit dedicated to improving the health and wellness of youth through education, outreach, and advocacy about proper nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices. Haile produces online cooking videos aimed at encouraging kids to get cooking, created the Healthy Girl Adventures Club to inspire girls to embrace healthy habits, and hosts an annual H.E.A.L. (healthy eating, active lifestyle) Festival in Tucson.

Desiline Victor
Miami, Florida

Desiline Victor, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti and retired farmworker, is 102 years old. On October 28, Victor inspired other early voters with her determination to cast her ballot, waiting three hours in vain, and then returning a second time. Mission accomplished, she emerged with an “I Voted” sticker as thousands of waiting voters erupted into applause. Known as “Granny” among the city’s Haitian community, Victor enjoys attending church services and cooking her own meals.