Honorary Chair - First Lady Michelle Obama

Michelle Robinson Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, transforming the position and becoming a role model, champion, and inspiration for people across America and around the world.

Head short of Former First Lady Michelle Obama As First Lady, Michelle’s work built upon her distinguished career in public service by championing four major initiatives:

  • Let’s Move! worked to help parents raise healthier kids — and set the foundation for Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) today.
  • Joining Forces, honored and supported our nation’s service members, veterans, and their families.
  • Let Girls Learn promoted girls’ education around the world, an effort that laid the groundwork for the Girls Opportunity Alliance, which supports global grassroots organizations working to ensure girls can get the education they deserve.
  • Reach Higher — which still encourages young people to pursue higher education today.

Since leaving the White House, Michelle has continued her advocacy work, striving to help young people see the power of their voice and the boundless promise inside of them. Through the Obama Foundation, she leads the Girls Opportunity Alliance, and is still very involved with Reach Higher. As part of When We All Vote, she urges young people to register to vote and get involved in the electoral process — reaching more than 100 million people during the 2020 election.

She’s also the co-founder of the children’s nutrition company Plezi Nutrition, where she’s building on the legacy of Let’s Move! to help raise a healthier generation of children. And last but not least, Michelle works with PHA to help provide access to good food for all Americans — in 2022, she helped us donate more than one million meals for under-resourced families through the Pass the Love campaign.

Before her husband was elected president, Michelle served as Vice President of Community and External Affairs for the University of Chicago Medical Center as well as Associate Dean of Student Services. Before that, she was executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, a nonprofit that helps prepare young people for careers in service. She began her career in public service working for the mayor’s office in Chicago City Hall.

Michelle met her husband Barack in 1989 at law firm Sidley Austin LLP, where she worked immediately after graduating from Harvard Law School. The two fell in love and married on the South Side of Chicago, not far from where she grew up. They stayed on the South Side to raise their two beautiful girls, Malia and Sasha, before moving to the White House. Of all the things she has achieved in her remarkable life, Michelle considers being a mother her greatest accomplishment.