Our Team

Michael LaRosa joined Ballard Partners as a partner in its Washington, D.C., office in September 2023. LaRosa previously served in the Biden White House as Special Assistant to the President and Press Secretary to the First Lady. He spent three years as Jill Biden’s chief spokesperson and traveled by her side throughout the country and around the world, visiting thirty-five states, more than seventy-five cities, fifteen countries, and six continents. Michael joined the Biden for President campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2019, as Jill Biden’s traveling press secretary and chief spokesperson throughout the Biden-Harris general election campaign, and on the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition Team. After departure from the East Wing, First Lady Jill Biden told CNN, “For nearly three years, from the campaign to the White House, Michael has brought an encyclopedic knowledge of politics and media to my team as my spokesperson and adviser. On a small team, loyalty and friendship are lifelong.”

LaRosa spent several years on Capitol Hill leading policy communications strategy for House Democratic Leadership in the Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and for Democrats on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources under Chair and Ranking Member U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA). He was also an aide to U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and U.S. Representative Melissa Bean (D-IL), then vice chair of the New Democrat Coalition. For seven years, LaRosa covered national politics, Congress, and campaigns as a writer and producer for one of the original and longest-running political talk shows on cable news, MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews.

In addition to his role at Ballard, Michael is an adjunct professor of political science at American University and serves on the boards of the National First Ladies Library and Museum and the First Ladies Association for Research and Education. He is frequently quoted in national news media and appears on broadcast, cable, and digital programs as a political analyst. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, and earned his undergraduate degree from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, and his master’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C.