PRITZKER JOINING FOUNDATION BOARD

The Chicago Sun- Times has learned former O ba ma Commerce Secretary Penny P ritz ker is joining the board of the Barack Obama Presidential Foundation and that the foundation opened a new office in New York, starting to make good on a promise to Columbia University.

Pritzker becomes the 12th member of the O ba ma Foundation board as the organization is stepping up its pursuit of mega corporate donors in general and corporate Chicago in particular. The foundation needs hundreds of millions of dollars to bankroll programs and construct the O ba ma Presidential Center.

The foundation, based in Hyde Park, also is starting to fulfill a pledge to have a partnership at Columbia University. Obama earned his undergraduate degree there, but the school was passed over as site of the Obama Center. When the Obamas decided Chicago would be the home to their center, the foundation said it would “maintain a presence” at Columbia.

The foundation has about five staffers in New York, including the key figures working on the foundation fellowships plans.