Valerie June Jarrett (née Bowman; born November 14, 1956)[1] is an American businesswoman and former government official, who has been the chief executive officer of the Obama Foundation since 2021.

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.

[12] Jarrett got her start in Chicago politics in 1987 working for Mayor Harold Washington[13] as deputy corporation counsel for finance and development.

She was deputy chief of staff for Mayor Richard Daley, during which time (1991) she hired Michelle Robinson (who was then engaged to Barack Obama) from Sidley Austin.

[32] Jarrett's role as both a friend of the Obamas and as senior advisor in the White House was controversial: in his memoirs Robert M. Gates, former secretary of defense, discussed his objection to her involvement in foreign security affairs;[33] David Axelrod reported in his memoirs about Rahm Emanuel's attempts to have her selected as Obama's replacement in the senate, due to concerns about the difficulty in working with a family friend in a major policy role.

"[39] When Jarrett later left her position at the mayor's office to head the Chicago department of planning and development, Michelle Obama went with her.

[41] She joined the board of directors of Ariel Investments,[22] 2U, Inc.,[42] Lyft,[43] Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,[44] Walgreens Boots Alliance, Ralph Lauren Corporation, Sweetgreen,[45] and is a member of the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women advisory council.

[46] She served as the co-chair of the United State of Women,[47] chair of the Board of When We All Vote and Civic Nation,[48][49] and a senior advisor to ATTN:.

[51][52] In July 2017 Jarrett signed a deal with Viking Press for her book titled Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward.

[56][57] Along with Donna Brazile, vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, she is one of the political figures to make a cameo appearance as herself in the CBS drama The Good Wife.

[59] Her daughter, Laura Jarrett, would go on to become an attorney and reporter for CNN, and is now a senior legal correspondent for NBC News and co-anchor of the Saturday edition of Today,[60][61][62] and daughter-in-law of the Canadian politician Bas Balkissoon.

Subsequently, Barr was sanctioned by her talent agency ICM Partners, losing the lead role on her eponymous television program, Roseanne.