Valerie Jarrett was the longest serving senior adviser to President Barack Obama. She oversaw the White House Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls. Before joining the White House, she served as the Chief Executive Officer of The Habitat Company in Chicago, Chair of the Chicago Transit Board, Chair of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer the Chicago Stock Exchange, Commissioner of Planning and Development, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Jarrett also practiced law for ten years in both the public and private sectors. Jarrett has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including Time’s “100 Most Influential People.” She received her A.B. from Stanford University in 1978 and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981. She is currently the Senior Adviser to the Obama Foundation and ATTN: and sits on the boards of Ariel Capital Management Investments, 2U, and Lyft. She is Board Chair of When We All Vote, Co-Chair of the United State of Women and is a Senior Distinguished Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School.
