Valerie Jarrett

Valerie June Jarrett (née Bowman; born November 14, 1956) is an American businesswoman and former government official who has been the chief executive officer of the Obama Foundation since 2021. She was the longest-serving senior advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama. She was assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, overseeing the office of the same name, and chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls. Before that, she was the chief executive officer of The Habitat Company and a co-chair of the Obama–Biden Transition Project.

Early life and education

Jarrett was born in Shiraz, Iran, during the Shah's rule, to American parents James E. Bowman and Barbara T. Bowman. Her father, a pathologist and geneticist, worked at a hospital in Shiraz in 1956. When she was five years old, the family moved to London for a year, later moving to Chicago in 1962.

Her maternal great-grandfather, Robert Robinson Taylor, was the first accredited African-American architect, and the first African-American student to enroll at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her maternal grandfather, Robert Rochon Taylor, was chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority in the 1940s.

As a child, Jarrett spoke Persian, French, and English. Her mother was one of four children's advocates who created the Erikson Institute in 1966. The institute was established to expand collective knowledge of child development for teachers and other professionals working with young children.

Jarrett graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon School in 1974, and earned a B.A. in psychology from Stanford University in 1978 and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.