Overview

Gender

female

Investor Type

Angel

Valerie B. Jarrett is a senior adviser to the Obama Foundation and ATTN:, a senior distinguished fellow at the University of Chicago Law School, and president of the board of When We All Vote. She also serves on the boards of Ariel Investments, 2U, Lyft, the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and the Economic Club of Chicago. Her New York Times best-selling book, “Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward,” was released in April.

Jarrett was the longest serving senior adviser to President Barack Obama. She oversaw the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls. Jarrett worked throughout her tenure at the White House to mobilize elected officials, business and community leaders, and diverse groups of advocates. She led the Obama Administration’s efforts to expand and strengthen access to the middle class, and boost American businesses and our economy. She championed the creation of equality and opportunity for all Americans, and economically and politically empowering women in the United States and around the world. She oversaw the Administration’s advocacy for workplace policies that empower working families, including equal pay, raising the minimum wage, paid leave, paid sick days, workplace flexibility and affordable childcare, and led the campaigns to reform our criminal justice system, end sexual assault and reduce gun violence.

Jarrett has a background in both the public and private sectors. She served as the chief executive officer of The Habitat Company in Chicago, chairman of the Chicago Transit Board, commissioner of planning and development, and deputy chief of staff for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. She also served as the director of numerous corporate and not-for-profit boards including chairman of the board of the Chicago Stock Exchange, chairman of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board of Trustees, and director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Jarrett has also received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including TIME’s 100 Most Influential People as well as the Abner J. Mikva Legal Legends Award.

Jarrett received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1978 and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.