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The Obama Presidential Center is just months away from opening in Chicago, officially accepting job applications for individuals who share the organization’s commitment to “anti-racism and equity,” according to its website.
“When people come here, we want them to feel what makes the South Side so special,” former President Barack Obama said in a video message posted to social media Tuesday announcing the job openings. “The mix of warmth and grit, the sense of humor that can brighten any day, the creativity that turns challenges into opportunities, and the joy that shows up in every block, every place of worship and every family reunion.”
The presidential center, which is expected to open on Chicago’s South Side in June, is looking to fill 150 job positions stretching from custodians to “ambassadors of hope” who greet visitors. Applications are open until Jan. 31.
The Obama Foundation’s website underscores its commitment to being an “anti-racist” organization throughout its main web page focused on careers, as well as within the job descriptions for the available roles.
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Former President Barack Obama’s presidential center is slated to open in Chicago in June. (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
Within its job description advertising for a full-time security officer, for example, the website notes that it is an equal opportunity employer that is “deeply committed to creating an actively anti-racist organization, leveraging our global reach to combat systemic racism and inequity wherever it exists.”
The center describes its team as “equal parts dreamers and doers” and who “care as much about how we achieve our goals as we do about the goals themselves.”
“We are also committed to creating an anti-racist organization in order to do our part to help combat racism and inequity in all forms, in communities across our nation and around the world,” the Obama Foundation’s main webpage for careers states.
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The Obama Foundation directed website visitors and potential hires to read its lengthy statement on anti-racism and equity, which highlighted that the organization is working to build a network committed to addressing systemic racism and gender discrimination, stressing that combating inequity requires not just policy changes but sustained cultural and institutional commitment.
Construction continues at the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“That’s why our goal is to make sure every member of the Foundation team is committed to anti-racism, sets expectations for how we will engage, and makes space for the work,” the statement said. “We’re focused on making sure our actions match our intent – removing barriers for diverse vendors, building anti-racism and equity into our hiring practices, and recruiting diverse cohorts for our leadership programs. We also want to be strong partners, working with members of the predominantly Black community that is our home, and the future home of the (Obama Presidential Center).”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Obama Foundation Friday morning inquiring if there’s a mechanism or process to determine a potential hire is aligned with their “anti-racist” vision, and if it will accept applications from noncitizens, but did not immediately receive a reply.
Obama’s presidential center underscoring its commitment to anti-racist policies comes after President Donald Trump took a hatchet to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the federal government upon his return to the Oval Office, which has had a cascading effect throughout private industry.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, left, joins former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama in a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park Sep. 28, 2021, in Chicago. ( Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Trump signed an executive order on day one of his second administration, for example, titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” which directed federal agencies to stamp out DEI-style programs across the federal government. The following day, Trump signed a second order aimed at “restoring merit-based opportunity,” including changes to federal contracting and related compliance.
“We’ve ended the tyranny of so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military. And our country will be woke no longer,” Trump said in March during a joint address to Congress celebrating his early wins of the administration.
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Obama’s presidential center is set to open its doors in June after years of delays, including lawsuits and federal reviews that pushed the timeline back from its initial 2021 expected opening. The center will include a handful of attractions, including the presidential library, a museum, auditorium, a Chicago Public Library branch, a garden, athletic facility and other attractions on its roughly 20-acre campus.
An aerial view shows construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, Chicago, where costs have soared and questions remain about the project’s funding. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The building has faced sharp scrutiny and mockery from some locals, who have previously lampooned the design of the massive, mostly window-less building, with the New York Post reporting some Chicagoans refer to it as the “Obamalisk.”
Obama Foundation Deputy Director Kim Patterson defended the architecture in December 2025, telling CBS News that the design of the building was intentional, including to protect artwork within the building.
“The shape of the building was actually meant to mimic four hands coming together to show the importance of our collective action,” Patterson told the outlet.
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“There are not a lot of windows on the building, but that’s intentional, because sunlight is just not a friend to the artwork and the artifacts that are going inside of the building,” Patterson added of why the building has few windows.
