Zoe Berg, Senior Photographer

Zayn Siddique LAW ’16 who served as the Principal Deputy of the Domestic Policy Council under the Biden administration, spoke at events hosted by the Yale Politics Initiative and Yale Law Democrats on Thursday.  

Siddique joined the Biden administration in 2021 after then-President-elect Joe Biden appointed him as Senior Aide to the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. A year later, in September 2022, he was appointed deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council for economic mobility. He also served as Chief of Staff for the Domestic and Economic Team for the Biden-Harris Transition and as a member of Vice President Kamala Harris’s prep team for the 2020 Vice-Presidential debates. In May, he was appointed to the role of Principal Deputy of the Domestic Policy Council but stepped down from the position last month.

“The kind of leader that so many YLS students aspire to be”: Siddique speaks at Yale Law Dems event 

The event, hosted by the Yale Law Democrats and co-hosted by the Yale Law and Policy Review, featured a moderated discussion between Law School affiliates and Siddique. Law School Dean Heather Gerken delivered the opening remarks, and the event was moderated by YLD members Areeb Siddiqui LAW ’23 and Gevin Reynolds LAW ’26.  Siddiqui gave the News a brief recap of the event, which was closed to the press. 

Siddiqui said that he asked Siddique a series of questions about his life, his work on the presidential campaigns, his first 100 days at the White House, his transition from working solo for a presidential advisor to managing a team of 20 experts at the Domestic Policy Council, who were all older than him. He also said he asked about his work on childcare and pitching his executive order on childcare to Joe Biden.

Siddiqui added that the event also featured an audience Q&A, and then they took Siddique to lunch at Mory’s with a few students and professors that Siddique had worked with over the years. 

“I loved being able to sit with someone I’m inspired by, a fellow South Asian and Muslim who managed to work high up in political campaigns and at the White House, and to introduce Zayn and his varied experiences to the YLS community a few weeks before I graduate and leave the institution.” said Siddiqui. 

According to Yale Law Democrats President Sage Mason LAW ’24, the group reached out to Siddique because of his extensive experience leading domestic policy development at “the pinnacle of American politics.” 

Mason also said that turnout for the event exceeded their expectations and filled one of the biggest rooms at the Law School, which validated their impression that “Siddique had a story to tell that students were eager to hear.” 

“Not only is he the kind of leader that so many YLS students aspire to be, but he’s also a genuine, thoughtful, kind and relatable human being,” Mason told the News. “I’m certain he’ll be invited back to YLS many times over the coming years as he continues to rise in his young career.”

Mason added that the event would not have been possible without support from The Ludwig Program in Public Sector Leadership and the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. 

Overall, the YLD considered the event to be a triumph. 

“The event was a tremendous success,” said Reynolds. “A packed room of students enjoyed hearing one of the law school’s finest public servants, Zayn Siddique, reflect on his journey from YLS to the White House. Having Dean Gerken introduce Zayn was a real treat and a testament to the impact he has made on so many people, both personally and professionally. After spending two years in the trenches with Zayn, I was honored to be a part of this event!” 

“A practitioner in the truest sense of the word”: Siddique featured at YPI’s final speaker seminar of the semester

The YPI seminars are off-the-record events that feature speakers from across the country engaging in conversations with students about various political topics. These seminars, open to both undergraduate and graduate students, typically have a cap of around 15 to 18 participants. Siddique’s seminar, also held on Nov. 3o, took place at 220 York St.

“Zayn Siddique is a practitioner in the truest sense of the word,” Olivia Lombardo ’25, co-director of the YPI, told the News. “He [was]is a highly anticipated speaker, and students [had] a lot to learn from him.”

Born in Bangladesh, Siddique later moved to New York where he was raised. He pursued his undergraduate degree at Princeton and attended Yale Law School. 

Following law school, he served as a law clerk for Judge Dean Pregerson of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and later clerked for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. From 2019 to 2020, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.

“Over the past semesters, YPI has welcomed speakers from a variety of disciples,” Ava Jenkins ’26, operations director of the YPI, told the News.  “Top-rate journalists like MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell and the Editor-in-Chief of POLITICO Matt Kaminski; elected officials Jamaal Bowman, Jamie Raskin, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell; Director of EMILY’s List Emily Cain. The list goes on.”

YPI’s seminar with Kaminski ’94 took place on Tuesday.  

Jenkins added that the YPI typically offers between four to six seminars in a semester and that they have “high expectations” for their upcoming spring semester speaker lineup.

Lombardo told the News that the seminar structure ensured that students were not distanced from one another, merely listening to “a prewritten speech.” Instead, she said, students could actively participate in the conversations.

According to Lombardo, this format provides students interested in politics with a rare and valuable opportunity to learn directly from leaders in the field. 

“The founders of the Yale Politics Initiative noticed that many Yale organizations brought prominent speakers to campus to talk about important issues of the day, but few speakers focused on the nuts and bolts of politics, such as how to win elections, manage a campaign, or put together a piece of legislation,”  Professor Alan Gerber, who oversees the YPI, wrote to the News. “Moving from ideas to governance is complicated and has a science of its own, and ISPS is pleased to help provide this unique educational opportunity to Yale undergraduates.”

The YPI “Off the Record” seminars started in 2018.