Amber Macdonald is a former Special Assistant to President Joe Biden and longtime chief speechwriter to First Lady Jill Biden. She has also served as a top speechwriter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Congressman Jim McDermott. Outside the government, she’s ghostwritten for CEOs, award-winning actors and authors, and international thought leaders. Her speeches have received bipartisan praise, with major publications calling them “powerful,” “moving,” and “a rare political address that genuinely spoke to the moment.”
As SAP and Senior Presidential Speechwriter, Amber helped Dr. Biden cement her message and legacy as First Lady after serving as her only speechwriter during the 2020 campaign. At the Department of Health and Human Services, Amber translated complex and confusing healthcare policy into stories that touched people’s hearts. She developed agency-wide messaging guidance for Secretary Burwell’s Delivery System Reform initiative and was a strategist behind many Affordable Care Act campaigns.
Outside of her government roles, Amber has been a strategic advisor to heads of international corporations, luminaries who shape global conversations, and advocates who are just launching their public platforms. At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, in addition to writing multiple primetime speeches, she coached influencers, celebrities, and the party’s most senior leaders, helping them deliver their best performances to a packed United Center Stadium and an audience of more than 80 million viewers. She has helped write multiple books, including a New York Times bestseller, penned op-eds that have appeared in the nation’s most prestigious papers, and prepared leaders for Congressional testimony. A former actor and playwright who has performed at the renowned improv comedy theater Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles, she draws on years of stage experience to ready principals for their own spotlight.
