The Century Foundation (TCF), a progressive think tank, today announced that Ann O’Leary has joined the 100-year-old organization as a nonresident Fellow, joining its growing team of leading experts focused on the economy and women’s economic justice. Her work at TCF will inform change on the most pressing issues facing an equitable economic recovery, including paid family leave and broader issues around the care economy. 

O’Leary is a Partner at Jenner & Block LLP, where she co-chairs the Government Controversies and Public Policy Litigation Practice, and teaches courses at Stanford Law, including “The Law and Policy of America’s Safety Net.” O’Leary most recently served as Chief of Staff to the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, leading the Governor’s office through the COVID-19 public health and economic response, renewed and urgent calls for racial equity, and the effects of the climate crisis in California, including the worst wildfires in the state’s history. O’Leary also led the Governor’s proactive agenda to expand opportunity, including notable expansions of California’s Earned Income Tax Credit and Paid Family Leave. 

“Ann’s deep understanding of complex policy development at times of crisis and opportunity will be invaluable to TCF’s ongoing efforts to ensure the country’s economic recovery benefits everyone”

“Ann’s deep understanding of complex policy development at times of crisis and opportunity will be invaluable to TCF’s ongoing efforts to ensure the country’s economic recovery benefits everyone,” said Mark Zuckerman, president of The Century Foundation. “As a leading voice on the care economy, her expertise will build upon TCF’s growing profile on paid leave, child care, women’s health and economic security, and other issues that underpin our economic growth. We’re thrilled to have Ann join us as a Fellow, serving as a go-to resource for policymakers as they navigate through uncertainty and toward a better future.”

“We are on the cusp of what could be a fundamental realignment of how this country approaches care and caregiving,” said Julie Kashen, TCF Senior Fellow and Director of Women’s Economic Justice. “With Ann on board, TCF’s work on care and women’s economic justice will continue driving the overdue policy change that women and their families need.”

O’Leary brings decades of experience in government, politics, social policy, and nonprofit leadership. She served as Senior Policy Advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and Co-Executive Director of the Clinton-Kaine Transition Project. She co-founded the national nonprofit organization, the Opportunity Institute, as a continuation of her work as Senior Vice President of Next Generation, where she launched a national early childhood education initiative, “Too Small to Fail,” in collaboration with the Clinton Foundation. O’Leary holds a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, a M.A. in Education Policy from Stanford University, and a J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law. 

“I know better than almost anyone how critical The Century Foundation’s research and policy analysis has been to policymakers around the country as they grapple with tough decisions that affect the lives and futures of the people they serve,” said Ann O’Leary. “I am honored to join this team, whose work has provided a light in the darkness over the last year. The country has many more decisions to make as we rebuild from the pandemic, weighing policy choices that will shape how we recover and who stands to gain. I look forward to informing those critical efforts as a Fellow at TCF.”