Valerie Jarrett: Helping Women Find Their Voice

I'm a land Revere and this is Seneca's one hundred Women to Hear. We are bringing you one hundred of the world's most inspiring and history making women you need to hear. From two thousand and nine to two thousand and seventeen, Valerie Jarrett distinguished herself as the longest serving advice search to President Obama. She also chaired the White

House Council on Women and Girls. After leaving Washington, she was named a Senior Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School, and she helped launch When We All Vote, a non partisan organization that she and Michelle Obama created to increase voter participation among young people and people of color. Valerie is also the author of the best selling memoir

Finding My Voice. She and I talked at a Seneca Women Forum, which took place during the run up to this year's one hundredth anniversary of American women getting the right to vote. Listen and learn why Valerie Jarrett is one of Seneca's one hundred Women to hear. Welcome my friend, Valerie Jarrett. Valerie was the longest serving senior adviser to President Obama. Among her multiple roles, one that I worked with her closely on was the Council on Women and Girls,

and a lot did get accomplished. Today, she is the senior adviser to the Obama Foundation and the chair of When We All Vote. She is also the author of the New York Times best selling book Finding My Voice, A Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. So, Valerie, we're coming up, as you heard, and as you well know, to the hundredth anniversary of women's suffrage in the United

States and the anniversary on the Beijing Conference. What is your sense that this anniversary moment, are we doing better and especially in terms of women's leadership. While we are doing better, but we still have a very very long way to go. By almost every possible metric, women and girls are still lagging. One important, the one though, where we are making progress, and it's a it's a key one is education. We're graduating from college at a higher

rate than then now and we're half the population. But we all know as soon as we enter the workforce there are barriers, both structural and cultural barriers that come to work, and so the question becomes, what are we going to do to remove those barriers? And one of the many lessons I learned my eight years in Washington is it people who are in power actually like power, and they're not inclined to want to give it up.

And the only way you can try to do that is to have a coalition of the willing and not talk about these issues any longer as a nice to do or the right thing to do, but frankly as a business imperative for businesses in the United States that want to be globally competitive, and of course the same

thing applies to everyone else. You can live anywhere, work anywhere, and be productive, and the only way we're going to compete is to both attract and retain the most talented people and right now there are obstacles to us doing that. But I guess one message in this kind of comes full circle to coming up on the hundredth anniversary, is that change takes time, and it takes a relentless amount

of hard work. It takes broadening the universe of people that we include in this struggle far beyond those who are directly impacted, but to get those who are indirectly

impacted to appreciate that affects their lives too. And I would close this question perhaps by saying to one year for my birthday, President Obama gave me a copy of the petition for Universal Suffrage, which was assigned in eighteen sixty six, and alongside of it was the resolution introduced to Congress to give women the right to vote, which was introduced in May of nineteen, nineteen fifty three years.

And so, if you think about the women who were out there demonstrating and being imprisoned and hunger strikes and having their husband's pretty ticked off at them at the beginning of that journey, many of them didn't see the finish line. And I think part of what we have to help people understand is is it this takes time and relentless effort, and we need those thunderbolts. And I think, for example, the Me Too movement was a thunderbolt dealing

with culture. And the question is how do we keep putting our foot on the pedal to keep that progress change? And you're exactly right, we need to accelerate that progress, which is what we're all about here as we gather. So how did you see this progress in your own life, because clearly you've been on a trajectory. Yeah, in a sense of a trailblazer in a lot of ways. I will say one thing I figured out after six years is to work in a culture where I could thrive.

And I was fortunate because I had choices. And they're far too many women and girls who do not have choices, and therefore it's up to the rest of us to advocate for them. But once I figured out, and sorry if I'm offending anybody, a big law firm, but once I figured out the big law firm was actually not from me, I and began to work in an environment where I could be my whole self and I didn't have to pretend. When I was in a law firm and I was nine months pregnant, I was trying to

pretend I wasn't pregnant while I ga ninety pounds. I was pregnant, So you obviously didn't succeed in pretending I did not succeed. Everybody knew it, But I thought if I talked about it, and after my daughter was born, if I talked about her, that people would not take me so seriously. And I think that is that's wrong, but yet that is still the case in far too

many places of employment. And I actually believe that when you make yourself vulnerable and you say what you need, if you are in a position to do so, then it's a teaching moment. And I think too often we expect people to read our minds and recognize that when you're nine months pregnant, can go to the bathroom a lot, right, But nobody wants to talk about it. Or in my book,

I talk about menopause. You know what, guys, it's the reality of our lives and we shouldn't be shying away from expressing what's different about us and what our needs are. And it's not just women, it's working families, right, working families. My son in law is much more engaged with my grandson my brand new grandson's life. Then my husband was in my I know, my dad, who was a great dad,

was in mine. So I think part of it is understanding that in this new environment, fortunately men and women should be treating he treated on par and equal if we're going to compete. So one of my big policy positions that I've been talking about lately is paid leave. First of all, we're the only developed country in the world. We are the only developed country in the world that doesn't have one. But why do we have when we do have it? Why is there a difference between what

women and men have. Don't we want our men to be equal partners? And why are women taking off let's say three and four months or six months, which they should, But why are we not thinking about men in the same vein? And if we really want to level playing field, those are the kinds of conversations I think we should be having, and that is good progress. Talking about what your son in law is doing that you didn't see,

you know, in earlier generations. And I find that men are realizing more and more when they are in those settings with their newborn. Uh. They they are realizing benefits they never they never felt before or understand good, but they would be in a war environment where the policy as possible people have to live it, or the policy means that the benefits are all there. If we would just realize that senecas one hundred women to hear will

be back after the short break. You know, at the first Equal Rights Convention Women's Rights Convention back in I think it was, um the women were pretty scandalous in some ways. One was the fact that they were speaking out when women were not supposed to speak publicly. So again some change, um, But I you know, one of the things you have written about and spoken about is the need for women to use their voice and to speak out when they are in positions where it can

have impact. Why is that so important because we don't often realize that that could make such a difference. Well, I think part of it is we're afraid to speak out, I know, and this is one way I hope it has changed that. When I was younger, young working mom, I was afraid that if I talked about my daughter, people wouldn't take me as seriously. And what I grew to understand as I became a manager is that when my team told me what was going on in their lives.

It was it would enable me to bring out the best in them, and it developed a level of vulnerability and relationship that actually made them more productive in me a better manager. And so I think when you go into it realizing that if you open up and talk about what's going on, rather than expecting people to read your minds, there's a moment that they can actually learn something, and it is on us to teach. We can't just expect them to. Claire clair Voyalant, we know what we need.

And I think it's also helpful when we get academics

to do research and begin to show that. For example, his mounting research shows that employers who focus on issues like equal pay and raising the minimum wage and workplace flexibility, paid leave, paid sick days, affordable childcare, a culture free from sexual harassment, that they have a more productive workforce, a more efficient workforce, a loyal or workforce in the private sector, more profitable and the better we can make the business case for it, I think then it is

enlightened self interest and people are willing to not as much like give you their power, but certainly share and appreciate the fundamental proposition that diversity is a strength. And if you go into it assuming diversity is a strength and that you will make better decisions as a CEO or a manager. If you're not simply being in an echo chamber with people with your own life experiences, then you realize it's in your enlightened self interest to work

at achieving the diversity that you need in your workplace. Well, I think you've said that so well. Um. In fact, it's an evidence space case today and there's plenty of data to uphold what you just said. Uh, and that is it's a win win. It's a win for business, and it's a win for a better world. So thank you for saying that. Now, when you were in the White House, you did many wonderful things. Uh. They were

tough times as always. Uh. It is having also been in the White House for eight years and a different administration, but it's not an easy job. And I thought one of the great things you did for the women and to teach a lesson to the guys was amplification. What precipitated that and what did it result in. I'm glad you asked me that because I think there was a Washington Post story about this. It probably gave us credit from being more deliberate than we were, but I think

the way we did it was the best way. So I began to notice a few months in, and I'd take a step back to remind you, when President Obama was elected, all economy was in a free fall. The banks were big banks around the verge of collapse. Millions of people were losing their homes and their jobs, and we had two wars going on. There was a lot going on, let's just say that, and so tension was high.

We were all new, none of us had worked together in that setting before, and we were, as we used to say, driving of seven forty seven at the same time as we were trying to put gas in the UH if you could imagine that. So I began to notice early on, not so much in meetings with President Obama, but in our senior staff meetings that the women's voices

were shrinking. And it troubled me. And I knew how important it was to the President that he had this robust group of advisors with different expertises and life experiences um weighing in on critical matters. And so I mentioned it to him and he said, well, that's not acceptable, and he's like, what's going on. I said, all the same things that always go on at a workplace where you have men and women. And uh, he said, but that's not the culture I want in this White House.

And I realized that people come to each job with the experiences that they had before to bear, and they couldn't eat his mind and say it's going to be different here. And there were a lot of loud voices, let's face it, um, and so he said, well, it's everybody over dinner. So he invited the senior women, about twelve of us over for dinner, and he asked each one of them to go around and explain what the

issue was. And I had gone to each of them ahead of time, and I said, you better speak up, because if you go in there as you are wanting to do people are wanting to do. Yes, Mr President, everything's just fine, then I will look stupid, and I don't really care to look stupid. So fortunately they were quite forthcoming, and he listened so closely. And it was the same day as if Ford could um massacre, and so terrible to have this kind of a crisis on

our own military basin. President had been in the situation room all day, and some of the women thought, well, he probably won't come. I said, no, he'll come because this is important to him. But what I remember most is it at the end he said, look, this is a white house. I know it's tense. I know we have a lot going on, but you're here for a reason. You're here because I need your voices. So don't go in there and fight for yourself and let your own

pry an ego hold you back. If you don't, if you get rebuffed, fight for your ideas because I'll make a better decision with the benefit of those ideas. Right. How empowering was that you tell a group of women that they need to go in there and fight because that's what the leader of the free world has asked you to do. It was amazing. So at the end of the dinner, he goes, look, culture takes a minute.

I'm gonna work on this, but I want you to come back to me if you don't think we're making progress, because we're going to get this right. And so then I started inviting the women to dinner and we had our own dinners without him, and at the end of the each dinner, I would say um, do we need to have another dinner with the president? They go, no, no, we're We're good. And the reason we were good is

that we got to know each other. We told our stories, our children, our parents, our life dreams, where we've been before, and we developed a relationship with one another. When you go into a meeting and you see somebody around the table who you just had dinner with the like the night before, and they know you, you are much more confident about speaking up right. And people thought we orchestrated this to like amplify each other's voices, but it actually

happened quite organically because we cared about each other. And if somebody's hanging out there on a sentence and nobody's listening, and you care about that person, you'll say to the room and wait a minute, what about what Melancha said? And I think. So there is safety in numbers, but there's also safety and relationships. And it can't just be the woman though that was really important. It has to

be the mento. At the end of the first term, somebody said to President Obama, how do you compare how you started out to the end of your first term, And he said, at the beginning I had the absolute best players on the field because that's what we needed. He said at the end of the first term, I had the best team. Wow. It's a great statement, right, And that takes a while to build. And I think what we have to do is be intentional about building it and not expect it just happen because you think

it excellent. And I think this um, last statement that you made about using one's voice and um really saying what you need and you see needs to be done is really very very good advice. Thank you for your leadership. Long Thank you everyone who's here. You're a coalition of the winning and we appreciate it. You see why Valerie is so impactful. Here are three things I took away from that conversation. First, Valerie reminds us that equality for

women should mean equality for everyone. One example she shares is the value of parental leave for both parents when men are equal partners in parenting children, and the entire family benefit. Second, Valerie shows the importance of being authentically who you are wherever you are. As a manager, she learned that empowering people to talk about their lives creates a level of vulnerability and relationship that actually makes them better at their jobs. Finally, Valery reveals that we grow

stronger when we find our voice and use it. The world needs women's ideas and points of view, and you can help ensure women get heard by amplifying the voices of the women around you. Tune in next Tuesday to hear about our next featured woman and discover why she's one of Seneca's one Women to Hear. If you'd like to join the Seneca Women Network, go to Seneca Women

dot com. There you'll get access to exclusive events and workshops, plus updates on new podcasts and other opportunities to get involved. Seneca's one hundred Women to Hear is a collaboration between the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio, with support from founding partner PNG. Have a Great Day.