Former Shriver aide joins first lady's team

Chicago Breaking News: First lady Michelle Obama announced today that she is hiring a new communications director, Kristina Schake, a veteran Democratic political strategist and former aide to California first lady Maria Shriver.

Schake, who will begin work in December, will have two titles: special assistant to the president and communications director to the first lady.

"I'm thrilled to welcome Kristina to the team," Obama said in a statement. "Kristina brings a wealth of expertise that I know will make her a tremendous asset in the East Wing."

Meantime, Chicagoan Katie McCormick Lelyveld will continue in her role as Obama's press secretary, which will see her manage Obama's media outreach both in Washington and while the first lady is traveling. She joined Obama in 2007, an early hire.

In announcing Schake's hiring, Obama highlighted Schake's "extensive work" on child nutrition and community health issues as well as her upbringing in a military family. Schake's father served in Vietnam and her brother served in the first Gulf War.

Obama said the staffer would bring "invaluable insight to our work on childhood obesity and our efforts to support military families."

Schake, who is from the Los Angeles area, is the co-founder and a principal of Griffin Schake, a California-based public affairs and strategic communications firm.

She has helped major foundations, non-profits and civic leaders bring about critical social change through policy, legislative, social marketing and media initiatives, Obama's office said in a statement.

Schake for years was the senior communications strategist for Shriver, the Women's Conference and the California Endowment's Building Healthy Communities Initiative, the statement said.

Schake and her firm have championed stem cell research and early childhood education and helped change California's political landscape on renewable energy and civil rights, the statement said.

Before starting her firm, Schake directed the Governor's Summit on Obesity and was communications director for First 5 California, which provides education, health care, child care and nutrition programs for the state's youngest children.

A native Californian, Schake is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. She replaces Camille Johnston, who in September joined the Siemens Corporation.