Career Chat with Karine Jean-Pierre

Karine Jean-Pierre is the former Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden and former White House Press Secretary – a role in which she was the first Black person, the first openly queer person, and the longest-tenured woman to serve.

Born in Martinique and raised in New York by Haitian immigrant parents, Jean-Pierre began her career in local government as the director of legislative and budget affairs and deputy chief of staff for a pair of New York City councilmembers before transitioning into national politics as an advocate for greater corporate accountability at the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics.

In 2008, Jean-Pierre joined the presidential campaign for then-Senator Barack Obama, and later joined the Obama-Biden administration in the Office of Political Affairs. She also served as the deputy director for Battleground States on the 2012 reelection campaign. She has held roles on many high-profile campaigns, including as campaign manager for Letitia James' successful run for New York City Public Advocate, senior advisor to President Biden’s 2020 campaign, and chief of staff to Biden’s then–running mate, Senator Kamala Harris.

Outside of her direct political involvements, Jean-Pierre has shared her expertise on democracy, social justice, and public policy as a political analyst for NBC and MSNBC, as Chief Public Affairs Officer at MoveOn, and as an adjunct professor at Columbia SIPA, where she earned her Master of Public Administration. She was named a Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics in 2019, honored with the MLK Day Visionary Award in 2020, and bestowed the Phoenix Award in 2023. She is also the author of the 2025 memoir Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America, and the forthcoming Independent.

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