Adam S. Farina was appointed by President Biden as Assistant Secretary, Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs (OPIA), on May 3, 2024. In this role, Mr. Farina leads VA’s nationwide communications, public affairs, marketing, and outreach. He also leads VA’s intergovernmental affairs team, which works with local, state, and international governments to serve Veterans at home and abroad.
As Assistant Secretary, Mr. Farina leads VA’s 400+ communicators nationwide – building public trust in VA through media relations, digital media, advertising and marketing, speeches, events, and other forms of engagement. He is the principal advisor to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries on all matters involving public and intergovernmental affairs.
Prior to this role, Mr. Farina served as VA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. In that position, he led VA’s earned media, marketing campaigns, crisis and rapid response communications, and PACT Act communications. He also spearheaded a new marketing strategy to encourage Veterans to sign up for VA services – the largest outreach campaign in the history of the department – resulting in record numbers of Veterans applying for and receiving VA health care and benefits in 2022 and 2023.
Mr. Farina has also served as the Chief Speechwriter for VA, written speeches for presidential campaigns – including the Biden-Harris campaign – and worked as a speechwriter and lead communicator for Congressional offices, political campaigns, advocacy organizations, activists, and gun violence survivors. In these roles, he has contributed to the advancement of federal policies such as the first federal gun safety bill to become law in nearly 30 years and the National 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Mr. Farina graduated as valedictorian of Babson College Class of 2015. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he now lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Charlene and their dog, Jack.
