Tina Tchen


Christina M. "Tina" Tchen is an American lawyer and CEO of Time's Up. Her work centers on issues related to gender inequity, sexual harassment, and lack of diversity in the workplace.

Early life and education

Tchen was born in Columbus, Ohio on January 25, 1956 to Chinese immigrants who fled the People's Republic of China in 1949. Her father worked as a psychiatrist and her mother as a scientist. She grew up in Beachwood, Ohio where she graduated from Beachwood High School. She graduated from Radcliffe College of Harvard University in 1978, and received her J.D. degree in 1984 from Northwestern University School of Law.

Career

Tchen worked for several years for the Illinois Bureau of the Budget where she served as the Governor's budget analyst for the Department of Children and Family Services. In 1988, Tchen began as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, later becoming a partner at the firm in 1992, where she specialized in litigation in the federal courts. In 1992, she argued on behalf of the State of Illinois in front of the Supreme Court of the United States in Artist M. v. Suter, which helped reform the state's foster care program by closing a loophole.
During Obama's campaign in 2008, Tchen was one of his biggest fundraisers, raising $200,000. From Obama's inauguration in 2009 until January 5, 2011, she was the Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, previously known as the Office of Public Liaison. From 2011 until 2017, she served as Assistant to President Barack Obama; Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama; and Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls.
In 2017, she became a partner in the law firm Buckley Sander where she led the workplace culture practice and was head of the firm's Chicago office. In 2018, she was one of the co-founders of Time's Up and lead its Legal Defense Fund that connected victims of sexual harassment with lawyers. The fund has raised more than $24 million by 2019 and has connected more than 3,600 workers in various industries to legal support for sexual harassment cases.
In March 2019, Tina Tchen was hired as an adviser to investigate the Southern Poverty Law Center's "workplace culture" after allegations of sexual and racial harassment led to the firing of the SPLC's co-founder and resignation of its president. Also that year, she was named chair of the Recording Academy's new task force for inclusion and diversity following Neil Portnow and Ken Ehrlich's disparaging comments about women in the music industry.
On October 7, 2019, Tina Tchen was appointed chief executive officer of Time's Up.
Tchen has served on the following boards and commissions: