About TJ Adams-Falconer
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CAREER IN GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS
With over a decade of experience at the intersection of federal government and news media, TJ has built a career as a strategic communicator in public service. He served in the Obama White House as the Senior Media Affairs Manager from 2015 to 2017. In that role, he managed day-to-day press logistics and communications operations for the White House. He also worked closely with regional journalists across the country to amplify the local benefits of key White House policies like the Affordable Care Act and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
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Following his White House service, TJ worked on Capitol Hill as Communications Director for Northern California Congressman Mike Thompson in 2017. He was the congressman’s chief spokesperson and directed communications strategy around key legislative priorities. Notably, he led the office’s crisis and recovery communications efforts during the October 2017 Northern California wildfires– the most destructive in California history at the time– ensuring constituents received timely evacuation and relief information. In this role, TJ also supported the Congressman in his role as Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and his work as a senior member on the House Ways & Means Committee.
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In 2022, TJ was tapped to serve as both Deputy Communications Director to President Barack Obama in his post-presidential office. In this position, TJ acted as a primary communications coordinator between President Obama’s personal office and the Obama Foundation. TJ helped manage communication strategy around the President’s major Foundation efforts (like the annual Democracy Forum & the Voyagers Scholarship) as well as for his political engagements and other outside ventures (like the 2022 Georgia Senate runoff & Higher Ground Productions).
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ADVOCACY, MEDIA, & PROGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP
Outside of government roles, TJ Adams-Falconer has been a leader in progressive communications and advocacy. He worked at Bully Pulpit Interactive – a prominent strategic communications & digital media agency – as Associate Director of Strategic Communications from 2018 to 2021. In that role, he developed nationwide advocacy campaigns for progressive causes, companies, and coalitions– on policy issues spanning from education and healthcare to climate change. TJ’s first paid position in Washington was an Associate role at a similar communications firm named Seven Letter where he supported client teams on a wide range of federal public affairs campaigns in issue areas like FDA regulations and international energy markets.
CURRENT COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT & CONGRESSIONAL RUN
Despite a career that has taken him on a roundtrip from California to the halls of Washington, TJ remains deeply connected to his home community. He currently serves as the Founding Chair of the Pomona Valley Pride Advisory Board where he contributes to the organization’s growth and outreach goals, building on the inclusive community he cherished growing up.
He’s an active member of the Diamond Bar Women’s Club (the first male member of the chapter!) which organizes a wide range of community projects and civic engagement initiatives in Diamond Bar and throughout the San Gabriel Valley. He also volunteers with Club 21, a nonprofit resource center in Pasadena for Los Angeles and Orange County families with Down syndrome (TJ’s sister has Down syndrome and she previouisly served on the organization's board of directors!).
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TJ is also an active contributor to public safety in his community. He’s a volunteer patrolman with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department where he assists sworn deputies with non-hazardous duties like property checks, traffic control, and community engagement programs. He is also a member of LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s Advisory Board on Homelessness– an ongoing challenge in his community and across the 38th District since the pandemic.
Now, as he takes on this campaign for Congress, TJ is prepared to bring a unique combination of local understanding and national experience to the campaign. He enters this congressional race with a proven record of leadership at the intersection of government, media, and progressive policy.
EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION
​​TJ Adams-Falconer was raised by a single mother, a PUSD special education administrator, in Diamond Bar, California. Growing up in the richly diverse community of our district shaped his values and understanding of public service. His first real exposure to politics came with the 2008 campaign for California’s Proposition 8 (the same-sex marriage ban) which spent tens of millions of dollars on attack ads against gay & lesbian parents up and down the state, ultimately winning the votes needed to enact the ban. The U.S. Supreme Court would later overturn that ban, but this experience galvanized his calling to seek a career fighting for equality and progressive change.
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The same year, he went on to attend the University of California, Davis, earning dual Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science (American Government emphasis) and Communication. Years later, he would continue his education to hone his leadership skills, pursuing an Executive Master of Policy Leadership at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy in 2020. His capstone policy project was titled “Increasing Economic Mobility for Americans with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities.”