Lawyer Tina Tchen, who once served as chief of staff to Michelle Obama, has been named president and chief executive of Time's Up, according to The New York Times.
Tchen will replace Lisa Borders, who resigned from the chief executive role earlier this year after sexual misconduct allegations were made against her son. Rebecca Goldman, who had been acting as interim chief executive since Borders' resignation, will continue as chief operating officer.
The Time's Up advocacy organization was founded in 2017 by a group of women in Hollywood following the numerous sexual assault claims that were made against Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men in the entertainment industry.
Tchen, who was involved in the advocacy organization from the beginning, started the group's signature legal defense fund for women. The fund has raised more than $24 million thus far and has connected more than 3,600 workers in various industries to legal support for sexual harassment cases.
Prior to getting involved with Time's Up, Tchen had spent more than 30 years of her career focusing on diversity and inclusion. During her time with the Obama administration, she oversaw the Office of Public Engagement and the White House Council on Women and Girls, and served as an assistant to the president and chief of staff to the first lady. Before joining the White House staff, she was a partner at law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
In a series of tweets sent Monday, Tchen expressed her excitement for her new role and said that "fighting for gender equality has been my life's work, starting when I was in my 20s."
Following her exit from the White House, the 63-year-old served on the diversity and inclusion task force for the Recording Academy, which presents the Grammys, and an adviser to the Southern Poverty Law Center. In March, the civil rights nonprofit tapped Tchen as an adviser after facing accusations of sexual harassment and racism.
Tchen will step into her new role as president and chief executive of Time's Up on Nov. 1, forcing her to leave her current position as lead of the law firm Buckley LLP's workplace culture practice. In her new role, she will remain a chairwoman for The United State of Women organization, where she serves alongside former Obama administration colleague Valerie Jarrett.
Upon hearing the news of Tchen's appointment, several supporters of the movement tweeted their congratulations to her, including activist Tarana Burke and former first lady Michelle Obama.
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