Valerie Jarrett, Chief Executive Officer, The Obama Foundation
Interviewer: Jessica Yellin, Founder, News Not Noise
Interviewer: Jessica Yellin, Founder, News Not Noise
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TechTranscript
00:00Oh, you guys look fabulous.
00:02Good morning.
00:03Ladies, ladies, not too many eyes.
00:05Good.
00:06Good.
00:07Good.
00:08It is so nice to sit here and talk to you, Valerie.
00:10I think the first time we met, you were CEO in Chicago.
00:14It was before then Senator Obama was starting to run.
00:17Of course, you became a senior advisor in the White House,
00:20and you're now again a CEO of a $1.5 billion foundation,
00:24the Obama Foundation.
00:25And counting, and counting, just in case anybody's interested.
00:29That's an impressive startup.
00:31I know, you're so fundraising.
00:33First, I'd love to give people a sense of what's happening
00:35at the Obama Foundation.
00:37There are programs for girls and young people we'll talk about,
00:41but let's start with the facility itself.
00:43It's a very impressive campus.
00:45Tell us a little bit about what its focus is, when it opens,
00:49and why it's on the south side of Chicago.
00:51Ah, so I grew up on the south side of Chicago.
00:54That's why it's there, right?
00:55No, that's not exactly why it's there,
00:57but it does make it very special for me.
00:59It's a 19.3-acre campus,
01:02right adjacent to the Museum of Science and Industry,
01:05Chicago's amazing Michigan lakefront,
01:07and on the other side is the University of Chicago.
01:09Just a 10-minute drive to downtown,
01:11and it is going to be fabulous.
01:13It opens in the spring of 2026.
01:16You are all invited.
01:18And come and take a hardhat tour now, if you're curious.
01:21And so it will be not only an economic engine for Chicago,
01:25but a beacon of hope for the world.
01:26And it will house the Presidential Museum
01:28that will tell the story of not just President and Michelle Obama,
01:32but also the people upon whose shoulders they stand.
01:35It will have a Chicago Public Library,
01:37because it's so important to the Obamas
01:39and the young people in the neighborhood
01:40feel that this is their home.
01:42We'll have a forum building for huge gatherings,
01:44including our Democracy Forum,
01:46which I know we're going to talk about,
01:48and also an Athletic Center,
01:49where we're not going to just do sports,
01:51but teach young people about the importance of self-esteem
01:55and team building and the business of sports,
01:59because not everybody is 6'8 and can dunk.
02:03And it will have walking trails and vegetable gardens
02:07and fruit gardens and sledding.
02:09You can't sled anywhere else in Chicago.
02:11And growing up, Michelle Obama always wanted to go sledding,
02:13so we're building a sledding hill for her.
02:16And it will just be an incredible asset
02:19for the city that we call home.
02:21Why Chicago?
02:22Well, it's where the Obamas began their career together,
02:25their life together.
02:26Michelle was born about two miles
02:28from where the center is located.
02:30He came to Chicago, and he tells a story about coming,
02:33those of you who know Chicago,
02:34along the skyway from Indiana and landing on the south side.
02:38They lived basically, when they married,
02:40not far from where we're located.
02:42Their kids were born at the hospital less than a mile away,
02:45and it's where they built their life together.
02:47And they wanted to put down their library
02:50in a place where they already had roots.
02:51And where the people in the community would welcome them,
02:53and that's what Chicago has done.
02:55Lovely.
02:56We're all excited to go.
02:58Good.
02:59Please.
03:00The foundation is already doing work
03:02that is up and running,
03:03a lot of scholarships and programs for young people,
03:06because you're very focused
03:07on building the next generation of leaders.
03:09Yes.
03:10So when President Obama left office,
03:12he and Michelle spent a lot of time
03:14just trying to think through,
03:15what do we want to do next?
03:16They're obviously still very young.
03:18They're very popular.
03:19And they wanted to continue to be a force for good.
03:21But they also believe in taking the long view
03:24and building the next generation of leaders.
03:26And so we have leaders programs in the United States,
03:29Asia, Africa, and Europe.
03:31We have a scholarship program, thanks to Airbnb,
03:34for juniors and seniors in college
03:36to not only provide financially,
03:38but provide them a summer travel experience.
03:40And these young people just came back a couple of months ago,
03:43and all of them were standing like three feet taller
03:46as a result of going...
03:4870% of them left the country,
03:50and the other 30% went to cities or counties
03:53or rural communities where they had not grown up.
03:55And so this experience, as you can tell,
03:57is one of my favorites.
03:59We also have My Brother's Keeper,
04:01which President Obama started
04:02when he was still in the White House,
04:04to help improve the trajectory of boys and young men of color.
04:07And we have leadership programs for young girls.
04:10And our goal is to keep adolescent girls
04:12globally in school and also in the United States.
04:15So, and Columbia and the University of Chicago
04:17also have leadership programs.
04:19So we have now over 1,000 alumni
04:21who've been through our leadership programs
04:23who are out there changing the world.
04:25And spending time with them is what keeps me hopeful.
04:29A number of the students who come through your program
04:32actually live in countries with authoritarian leaders,
04:35where democracy is not functioning for them.
04:37Can you speak a little bit about the challenges
04:39of training kids for young people
04:41to work in a world they don't yet live in?
04:44Well, it's hard for a variety of reasons.
04:46And I'll give you an example of a young leader in our program
04:50who is from Vietnam, and she was actually incarcerated.
04:53And the Obama Leaders Program
04:55isn't necessarily the best calling card in some countries.
04:58And so you have to really respect and admire these leaders
05:01who are willing to take a risk to fight for human rights
05:04when they're in countries
05:05that are not supportive of those rights.
05:07We have another young leader named Zuma who's from Poland,
05:10and she's now the Deputy Minister for Justice,
05:13fighting for human rights and civic engagement.
05:15And she says if it wasn't for our program,
05:17she would have never considered
05:19putting her hat in the ring for this office.
05:21And her best friend since second grade
05:23was also in the Leaders Program
05:25and occupies a top position in government as well.
05:28And so when you see that so many people out there
05:31have great ideas, and they're working so hard,
05:34and they feel alone, and they feel overwhelmed,
05:37and all they need are some simple tools
05:39to help them do what they're doing,
05:41take it to scale,
05:43and meet other people from around the world
05:46who are trying to tackle the same challenges.
05:48And so we don't tell our leaders,
05:50care about this or care about that.
05:52We're not issue-specific.
05:53We just want them to have the tools to be more effective
05:56and to take what they're doing to scale
05:58and to meet some people from around the world
06:00with whom they can bond and develop relationships
06:03and maybe even do a little business together.
06:06Strengthening democracy here at home and overseas
06:09is a big focus for you all.
06:10Yes.
06:11Would you talk a little bit about your Democracy Forum,
06:13which I think is coming up?
06:14Yes.
06:15December 5th, we have our third annual Democracy Forum.
06:18I'll be honest with you.
06:19When President Obama left office,
06:21he didn't think he had to have anything
06:23focused explicitly on democracy.
06:25It's kind of a through line in all of our programs.
06:28But given the state of the world,
06:30he thought, well, let's zero in on that.
06:32So our first one a couple years ago was on disinformation.
06:35And he gave a speech at Stanford University,
06:37my alma mater, on the different ways that business,
06:40civil society, the individual, and government
06:44can try to tackle this huge problem of disinformation,
06:47which we know is only going to get exacerbated
06:49as a result of AI.
06:51Last year, we focused on inclusive capitalism.
06:53What are the ways in which we can build a strong middle class?
06:56Because we know that a threat to democracy
06:58is if you have countries where you have the rich and the poor.
07:01And you see uprisings when people feel,
07:03government is actually not working for me.
07:05So what can we do to make the tent big enough
07:07and the pie large enough for everybody to benefit?
07:10I always say that, look, talent is ubiquitous.
07:13It's opportunity that is not.
07:15And so how do we build this bigger opportunity platform?
07:18And then this year, we're focusing on pluralism.
07:21And I was talking to someone earlier who I won't out,
07:23but she said she probably hadn't heard that word since college.
07:26And it's particularly relevant right now, I think,
07:29because we are in this polarized, not just country,
07:33but world, and people are so comfortable in their echo chambers.
07:36And as a result of social media and the way we are organized
07:40and people who came of age during COVID,
07:44some of the basic skills of having a very difficult conversation
07:48with someone with whom you disagree,
07:51but you come to the table in goodwill,
07:53and you want to try to figure out, is there common ground?
07:56And there may not be.
07:58But it's healthy, and it is essential in a democracy
08:01to go through that exercise.
08:03And so how do we build a pluralistic society?
08:05Because if we don't,
08:07then the chances of us having a strong democracy begins to fail.
08:10And so each year, we're looking at what are the foundations,
08:13what are the threats, what are the opportunities
08:16to strengthen our democracy and taking on specific areas of focus.
08:20You guys never take on the big challenges, do you?
08:22No, no, no.
08:24I want to switch gears a little bit
08:26and ask you about the Girls' Opportunity Alliance,
08:28because I remember this from some of the work
08:30Mrs. Obama did at the White House.
08:32It's an outgrowth of some of her work there.
08:34Tell us what this focus is on
08:36and how it really helps strengthen democracy here in the U.S.
08:40Yes, so as you said, Jessica,
08:42first of all, can I just say how happy I am to be here with Jessica?
08:45I should have said it from the beginning,
08:47but you realize her focus is to tell good news stories,
08:50stories that don't just scare people to death.
08:52And I think that's good because of this current climate,
08:55you can seem overwhelmed by all the bad news,
08:58and so taking a moment to put out the good things
09:00that are actually out there.
09:02So I wanted to give you that shout-out before we run out of time.
09:04So when Michelle Obama was the first lady,
09:09she launched a program called Let Girls Learn,
09:11and her goal was to focus on the 100 million girls around the world,
09:15adolescent girls, who are not in school.
09:18Why are they not in school? A variety of different reasons.
09:20Some of it's poverty, some of it's child marriage,
09:22some of it's oppression,
09:24some of it's just lack of good resources and opportunity.
09:26And she worked with a variety of organizations
09:29when she was in the White House,
09:31raised a billion dollars to help keep girls in school.
09:33When she left, she said,
09:35well, what can I do without the platform of First Lady
09:37but continue this hard work?
09:39And so the Girls Opportunity Alliance,
09:41and I hope they're our partners,
09:43we have so many partners in the corporate community
09:45that are focusing on this here in the United States
09:47and around the world, is the same.
09:49How can we keep these girls in school?
09:51And we work with a whole range of grassroots organizations
09:54on the ground that are having success,
09:57evidence-based strategies
09:59that are keeping our young people in school.
10:01And last year, Melinda French-Gates and Amal Clooney
10:05and Michelle Obama teamed up,
10:07quite a threesome, if you ask,
10:09and went to Africa and really put a spotlight
10:11on the issue of child marriage, which is a huge challenge.
10:14And one of our leaders, a young 18-year-old,
10:16was very instrumental in Malawi
10:19and trying to raise the age
10:21within which young people could get married.
10:23So this is our plan,
10:25and what we want to do around the United States
10:27as well as around the world
10:29is to find those organizations
10:31that care about this passionately,
10:33partner with us, and let's help girls learn.
10:36So finally, you've been a leader your whole career.
10:39Not my whole career, let's be honest.
10:41Well, in the very beginning, maybe not.
10:43Started out a lawyer at a big law firm.
10:45That was a nightmare.
10:47Just in the spirit of full disclosure.
10:49I like that. That's true.
10:51We all come from humble beginnings.
10:53Talk a little bit about, if you would,
10:55you run a $1.5 billion foundation.
10:57You're juggling family and life
10:59and all the pressures we all deal with,
11:01but also an intense election year
11:03while you're trying to raise money.
11:05What advice would you give other women leaders
11:07about doing the job
11:09without compromising your essential needs and values?
11:12Well, first of all,
11:14this notion of work-life balance,
11:16I think, sets us up for disappointment.
11:19And the way I prefer to look at it,
11:21and I can say this because I'm older than most of you,
11:23thank you, is that life is full of chapters.
11:26And different chapters,
11:28there are going to be tradeoffs that you're going to make.
11:30And some chapters are just really hard,
11:32like raising children.
11:33Any of you have kids in this room?
11:35Okay, well, the best thing is when they have children.
11:38Because first of all, it's payback.
11:40But second of all,
11:41there's just nothing better than grandchildren.
11:43I have two.
11:44Don't hate me, but they're just the best.
11:46But when you are young, I felt,
11:48and I still obviously remember it quite searingly,
11:51like I was holding on by my fingertips.
11:53And I felt particularly when I was in that law firm
11:56that I couldn't really,
11:58and this is 38 years ago,
12:00but I just felt like I didn't tell anybody I was pregnant
12:02until I was six months pregnant.
12:04I gained so much weight.
12:05I was obviously pregnant.
12:06But I was afraid if I talked about it,
12:08people wouldn't take me as seriously.
12:10And that was the way the environment was back then.
12:13And so I was compartmentalizing.
12:15And if I had to take Laura to a doctor's appointment
12:17or anywhere else, I would just, oh, I'm going to a meeting.
12:20And why couldn't I just say,
12:22I'm taking her to a doctor's appointment?
12:24Because when the men would leave for soccer practice,
12:26everybody thought, oh, what a wonderful dad he is, right?
12:30And so in that era, I also felt alone,
12:34and I felt like I had to do it all myself.
12:36And I used to think about, well, what must it be like
12:38for moms who don't have the good-paying job
12:41and the health insurance and the great childcare
12:44and the support system that I have?
12:46And how can we take care of those structural
12:48and cultural impediments and legal impediments,
12:51which is why part of my passion when I worked in the White House
12:55was chairing the White House Council on Women and Girls.
12:58And so, look, it's hard when you're younger,
13:00but then they grow up.
13:02And so I think part of what I'm trying to say
13:04is that during these different chapters in life,
13:06make informed decisions
13:08and don't feel like you're compromising.
13:11Make it intentional and own the decision
13:14and be realistic about what you can do and what you can't do.
13:16But I also say you have to, you know,
13:18put the oxygen mask on yourself first.
13:20And so even in the White House,
13:22and you know what that was like covering us,
13:25is that I get up an hour earlier and exercise.
13:28Do I enjoy exercising?
13:30I do not enjoy exercising.
13:32Let me be really clear.
13:34But I needed to clear my mind.
13:35I knew I would feel better when I was finished.
13:37The happiest moment of the day
13:38was when I got off that treadmill.
13:40And I was doing something for myself.
13:43And, you know, in the beginning, I'd say,
13:44well, I do it after work.
13:45Well, there was no after work.
13:47And so this notion of balance sets you up to think
13:51that you can have it all at the same time.
13:53And what I would encourage you to think instead
13:56is when you look back,
13:58and I'm not saying my life is over,
13:59but let's say when I look back,
14:01I've had multiple chapters.
14:03And the question is, do the chapters add up
14:05to a whole life?
14:07You know, did you love?
14:09Did you build relationships?
14:10Did you find time and space in your heart
14:13for the people that you care about,
14:15knowing that that meant that you didn't get to do
14:17some other things?
14:18And when my daughter was young,
14:20I had her when I was 28,
14:21and most of my friends and relatives
14:24didn't have children.
14:25They would go off to Europe,
14:26and they'd go doing whatever,
14:28partying all night,
14:29and I would be home with Laura.
14:30And they said, well, don't you miss being out with us?
14:32And I was like, no,
14:33I made this decision to have this baby.
14:35And now they're paying college tuition,
14:37and I am free.
14:38So that's my point.
14:41And so just be intentional about your life,
14:43and try not to put too much pressure on yourself
14:48to say I have to have it all right this second.
14:50And I think for the younger generation,
14:52where, let's face it,
14:54as a result of technology,
14:55so much does happen quickly.
14:57And it's right there at the palm of your hand,
14:59and I'm always telling them,
15:01this is actually not a sprint.
15:03It's a marathon with lots of, hopefully,
15:05twists and turns.
15:07And the final thing I'll say as our clock runs down,
15:09I wrote a book called Finding My Voice,
15:12The Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward.
15:14And then when I did a paperback,
15:15I changed the subtitle
15:17because it's really the story of my life,
15:19which is when the perfect plan crumbles,
15:21and I thought I had a perfect plan,
15:23a 10-year plan,
15:24and I checked off all the boxes on my plan
15:27except for 10 years in.
15:29And the last one was live happily ever after,
15:31and I was miserable.
15:33And so when the perfect plan crumbles,
15:35that's when the adventure begins.
15:37And if you look at life like an adventure,
15:39then the swerves end up being an incredible line.
15:43Thank you, guys.
15:45Valerie, thank you.