Obama Foundation taps Tina Tchen for new role, a year after she resigned from Time’s Up following Gov. Andrew Cuomo scandal

Nearly a year after Tina Tchen resigned amid controversy from heading a national charity aimed at fighting sexual harassment, the Obama Foundation on Wednesday announced it has tapped the longtime Chicago attorney to serve in a new leadership role.

Tchen will lead the “development, implementation, and monitoring of the foundation’s strategy,” as well as working with alumni from President Barack Obama’s White House and a program that seeks to empower adolescent girls around the world, according to a foundation release.

After advising the foundation informally for months, Tchen, beginning Monday, will be its executive vice president and chief strategy and impact officer, according to a foundation spokeswoman. In the release, Tchen said she was “honored to join the Obama Foundation as we work to realize the legacy of President and Mrs. Obama, to inspire, empower, and connect those working for change around the world.”

The move to hire Tchen follows local and national controversies, most notably her role advising disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a #MeToo scandal that ultimately led to her resignation as president and CEO of the nonprofit Time’s Up.

Tchen was criticized following reports that Cuomo and his aides sought her advice on how to handle a growing harassment scandal while she simultaneously led the nonprofit, which was founded to help those who have been sexually harassed or assaulted.

Tchen at first apologized and said she was “used as cover” and that she only got involved because she thought Cuomo’s “office was interested in doing the right thing for women.”

She later resigned from Time’s Up at the end of August 2021, saying she wanted to end battles between women and activists involved in the #MeToo movement “who should be working together to fight for change.”

Tchen also faced criticism from some Chicago-area #MeToo advocates for endorsing Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle when she ran for Chicago mayor in 2019. Preckwinkle faced scrutiny over her handling of sexual assault accusations against her former chief of staff. The Tribune revealed Preckwinkle knew about an alleged assault for six months before firing that staffer one day before launching her mayoral bid. Tchen said the endorsement was made in her personal capacity, not as the head of Time’s Up.

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Tchen worked in the White House for all eight years of Obama’s administration, first as director of the Office of Public Engagement and then as chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama. While there, she also was executive director of the Council on Women and Girls, a program designed to ensure that federal programs addressed gender inequalities in wages, work and health. That work has continued under the foundation as an adolescent empowerment program called Girls Opportunity Alliance.

Asked why Tchen was tasked with this program given the controversies, Obama Foundation spokesperson Courtney Williams said, “Tina has spent a career fighting for positive change for women. Her life’s work has been geared toward making workplaces fair and equitable and safer for women.”

Fellow Obama White House alum Valerie Jarrett, the foundation’s CEO, described Tchen in Wednesday’s release as “an accomplished lawyer, an advocate for gender equality, and a longtime adviser to the Obamas and the foundation. Her commitment to creating the next generation of leaders coupled with her vast experience as a national changemaker will help drive the impact of our work.”

Tchen also made news for her involvement in the Jussie Smollett scandal. Early in the investigation involving Smollett, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx withdrew from overseeing the prosecution, revealing she’d had contact with a member of Smollett’s family at the request of Tchen. In correspondence provided to the Tribune, Tchen said that she was acting on behalf of Smollett and his family. A relative later exchanged texts with Foxx.

After leaving the White House but before working for Time’s Up, Tchen headed the Chicago office of the Buckley law firm, “where she founded a practice advising companies on corporate culture,” according to the foundation release.

According to an American Bar Association biography, Tchen helped author a 1983 bill in the Illinois General Assembly “that helped modernize Illinois rape laws to include sexual assault and other abuses” and worked on the National Organization for Women’s campaign to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in Illinois.

Her legal career began at Kirkland & Ellis. She went on to clerk for District Court Judge John F. Grady and work for two decades at the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom before joining the White House.

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ayin@chicagotribune.com