Obama’s youthful warm-up act

Barack Obama’s visit to Brussels last week raised many questions. One of them was how it came about that a 26-year-old European Commission official introduced the world’s most powerful man for his set-piece speech at Bozar, the Brussels concert hall.

Laura Hemmati is an assistant working on renewable energy issues in the European Commission’s department for research and innovation, though that is not what drew her to the attention of the US Mission to the EU, but rather her work on youth leadership forums.

She founded the International Young Women Partnership three years ago, and in July last year she co-founded a group called Leadarise, a networking and support group for young women starting out on their careers.

Hemmati comes from Scotland but has been working in Brussels for four years. She was first a project officer at the European Youth Forum, then worked in the administration of the European Parliament before joining the Commission at the beginning of this year.

Some people – no matter their age – might have been daunted by the prospect of speaking to an audience of 2,000 people that included the king and queen of the Belgians and the presidents of the European Council and European Commission. But Hemmati has already met Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and has spoken to the Scottish parliament.

Indeed, if Scotland does vote for independence and needs a head of state, she’ll make herself available.