NEH Announces New Senior Appointments

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is pleased to announce the appointment of two new senior staff members to serve as the agency’s liaison with the Biden-Harris White House and to lead NEH’s outreach efforts to Pacific Island communities.

Ageliki “Angel” Key has been appointed as NEH’s White House Liaison.  In this capacity, Key will support in implementing the Biden-Harris Administration's priorities at NEH. As NEH’s first Policy Advisor for Pacific Island Affairs, Moana Palelei Iose will serve as the lead policy and strategy advisor for a forthcoming NEH initiative that will strengthen the cultural and educational sectors in American Samoa (Tutuila), Guam (Guahan), Hawai’i, and the Northern Marianas.  

“I am thrilled to welcome Ageliki Key and Moana Palelei Iose to these new roles at NEH,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “These two accomplished individuals bring deep expertise in developing and refining mission-driven operations and strategy. We look forward to their important contributions in helping expand NEH’s reach and supporting resilient communities through the humanities.”  

Ageliki “Angel” Key, White House Liaison

Before joining NEH, Key worked in the Office of Presidential Personnel at the White House, where she helped advance President Biden’s priority of creating an administration that looks like America. Before transitioning to the federal government, she spent five years working in the tech industry for various mission-driven startups that ranged from a tech boot camp to a behavior-change platform to a group focused on empowering women to land C-suite positions in product management. She started her career working for an international business group located in Washington, D.C., where she supported key Obama administration priorities. Angel received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the American College of Greece. She is currently pursuing her master’s in technology leadership from Brown University. She is an AmeriCorps alumna and served with City Year Miami.
 

Moana Palelei Iose, NEH Policy Advisor for Pacific Island Affairs 

Palelei Iose is a multidisciplinary artist originally from the village of Nu'uuli in Tutuila. Before joining NEH, she consulted as Senior Policy Analyst for the Western Arts Federation (WESTAF) Pacific Initiative and Assistant Director of Educational Outreach for the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development (now the Project on Indigenous Governance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School). She is a dedicated advocate for Indigenous affairs, and has consulted on projects in Kenya; Waikato, Aotearoa; New Orleans; New York; Las Vegas; Denver; and throughout Indian Country. Palelei Iose currently owns and is the lead curator of Lost Eden Gallery, a Western American Indigenous art gallery. She is enrolled at New York University (NYU), where she is studying the post-colonial body and Indigenous Oceania religions, with a focus on death rituals and ceremonies. She is represented by Modern West Gallery and splits residency between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Las Vegas, Nevada. 

National Endowment for the Humanities: Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at neh.gov