Intergovernmental affairs and she chairs the White House Council on women and girls. Throughout her tenure at the white house, she worked to mobilize elected officials, business and community leaders, and diverse groups of advocates. She led the efforts to expand and strengthen access to the middle class, boosting american businesses and the economy. She fought to empower women, economically and politically in the u. S. And the world. She oversaw the advocacy of the administration for workplace policies that empower working families, including equal pay, is in the minimum wage, paid leave, paid sick days, workplace flexibility, and affordable childcare. Also led thett campaign to reform the criminal producing Sexual Assault and criminal gun violence. She has a background in the public and private sectors. She served as the ceo of the in chicago,any commissioner of planning and development for the city, deputy piece of chief of staff for richard daley, and has served as the director of numerous corporate and notforprofit boards, including as chairman of the board of the chicago stock exchange, chairman of the university of chicago, medical bender board as Medical Center board of trustees, and has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including time 100 most influential people. She grew up in chicago, but her Ba Stanford University and her lauded the from the university of michigan law school. Last week she was appointed to the board of directors of chicagobased reo investments. ,oint of information on that her father, dr. James bowman, was one of the original members of the aerial board of directors. The obvious first question is, whats it like to be in your fathers seat . [laughter] ms. Jarrett oh, boy, going to make a cry right at the very beginning . First of all, good afternoon, i think i know almost anybody everybody here. Theres no place i comb. Thank you very much for welcoming me back here. [applause] me a second to compose myself. It is an extraordinary honor. My dad was one of the original investors. Those of you who know john rogers know that he started arielle is a young adult. People told him that he was too young to start a business. Similarly, people told me i was too young to run for president. [laughter] ms. Jarrett so much for my advice. Hes a great civic leader here, around the United States and the world, im honored to join him. Mr. Mazur thank you. So, after you finished telling barack obama that he was too young to run for president [laughter] mr. Mazur what did he say to you . Ms. Jarrett well, the story goes back a little further. I gave him my most incorrect suggested that he not run for senate. Those of you from chicago know that it wasnt long before when he lost in the congressional race against bobby rush. Said if you run so quickly and blues again, your political career will be over, so i dont think you should do it, and he said well, im going to do it. If im not afraid of losing, why are you . That was good, sound advice. If youre going to take risks, the opportunity is right there and he decided to run. By the time he decided to run for president i was like ok, all right, kind of young, but ok, lets try. The rest is history. Howard you describe your experiences as an advisor to president obama over the last eight years . Extraordinary. The best eight years of my life, to be able to be there from day one until the last day and have a chance to see our country come back from what could have been the worst economic crisis of a lifetime, certainly wasnt my lifetime. Not since the Great Depression had we been on such a crisis. Thanks in freefall, to see us go from an Unemployment Rate down to up from 10 to less than five with 20 Million People having health care that didnt have it before, scaling down howd figuring out to to grow and build the middle class, it was an extraordinary experience. Some highs in some lows, but i would not have traded it for anything. Mr. Mazur what was it like when you and your team moved into the white house complex . Ms. Jarrett stunning is all i can tell you. Before we moved in, i was one of the cochairs of the transition team, so we started working literally the day after the election preparing for an early transition of power and i always give president bush and his team a shout out, they did Everything Possible to make sure we could hit the ground running. Cooperative, volunteering as much information as possible, setting the tone. It really says a lot about democracy where we really ran a campaign against many of his policies, get he knew it was his responsibility to help us. The first time that i went to the white house as a part of the transition team, i met i went of youre mike, hold hand shes now with the obama foundation. Mike was overseeing the staffing of the offices of Public Engagement and intergovernmental affairs. We go into the white house together, its right before christmas, the decorations were. P and it was just a twilight we were walking towards the ground and petrified to say the least. Excited, exhilarated, didnt know what we would encounter. Just as we went through the checkpoint at the secret Service Counter first of all, we were delighted they let us in. You know, there might get a parking ticket you never paid, you never know what might pop up. I was more worried about mike than for myself. Are walking up, looking at the white house, its all lit up, so excited. The cameramen, at this place called pebble beach, one of the cameramen, you will remember this, mike, he yelled out welcome to the white house. We burst into tears. Both of us, i might add. We stood there, crying like babies. If you had asked me, growing up, the chances of my actually working in the white house and even knowing, for me, the president of the United States, i would have been stunned. That first day was overwhelming, to say the least. As this was going on in front of the white house, mike and i were inside, trying to figure out where the bathrooms were. [laughter] mr. Mazur have you ever been to the white house before that day question mark ms. Jarrett two times that day . Ms. Jarrett two times. I was invited there once as an cousinsvitation, and my goodbye party, she had worked for president clinton. In the wayly not that id explored and discovered it in eight years i had been there. Mr. Mazur if that was the first day, what was it like on the last day . When you ms. Jarrett did you hear that sigh shock [laughter] side . Sigh . [laughter] ms. Jarrett i wanted to be there on the last day. There wasnt a single moment in my wildest dreams that it occurred to me to leave early. It is like why do that when you only come this way once . That last day was obviously bittersweet. I went over early and they have a tradition with a fly a flag on the first and last day of the administration and then the people that oversee the house, the white house, deliver the flag to the president and the first lady lady. I watched that ceremony and it was quite powerful, and emotional, as you would imagine. And at that point the hence,ntelect, trump, they arrived, and again its an indication of how hard you have to work, no matter how you might feel about the outcome of an election, for a smooth transition. We tried hard to do the same thing for the Trump Transition Team that president bush did for us. It was painful to see, for example, the house staff, who we had all gotten to know on such personal terms, come down to say the final goodbye, so there were a lot of tears. You have been described as president and Michelle Obamas first friend. What does that imply, what does that mean . Ms. Jarrett we are really good buddies come right question mark i have known him twice six years. I was talking about how i met them. She sent me a resume and across the top she was an outstanding lawyer. No offense to anybody at a law , but i thought my kind of person. Her, 10 minutes in i figured out i was no longer interviewing her, she was interviewing me. Fixing i know, next thing i know, she says her fiance doesnt think it can be a good idea. What if he doesnt agree with something that the mayor does . Who will be the person looking out for me . I said yes and that was a really wise decision that i made. I take it that the dinner was not at the lawyers valloys . Been,rrett it could have but it wasnt. My moms favorite. It was at the beginning of what i knew would be a lifelong friendship. So, over the course of 26 years they married, had two amazing children. We were involved with each other both professionally and personally over the course of the normal vicissitudes of life. Out of that, you find out who you can trust. Im sure that everyone in here that has a friend that you made friends with 26 years ago, you have become pretty good friends. Absolutely. Reflecting back, what were the greatest successes of president obama and his team . Ms. Jarrett thats easy. Number one, saving our economy. The fact that you now have millions and millions of people that have jobs that did not have them and were at risk of losing them was very important. Writing the economy, putting the rules of the road in place to make sure that the banks were not able to take risks to that degree. Too big to fail, we wanted to didnt peakat we that tragedy again. Im very proud of the work that we did around the formal care act. To this day, still confused about how it turned into such a politically charged issue. What is wrong with wanting everybody to have Affordable Health care . I just dont get that. [applause] on the International Stage and proud of the fact that we were able to strike a deal with a consortium of other countries to make sure that iran doesnt develop nuclear weapons, reestablishing relationships with cuba is transformative. The fact that on the world stage president obama tried very hard to show that forces and the only way to solve big problems complex as the world is, you really do need to use diplomacy. You shouldnt be afraid to use force, but you should also use diplomacy. Adding a reputation improved on the world stage. [applause] dependence on foreign oil. The amazing strides that we made for energy efficiency, its one of the areas where im concerned about policy going forward, we have to recognize that the climate is changing and the fact we were able to get 200 countries to come together in paris to sign an accord making commitments, not just government commitments, private sector commitments as well, thanks to those of you in this room the support those efforts. We want to leave the environment better to our children and grandchildren than we found it. These are a few of the many things a very proud about. And we are proud that you were a part of that. What about the lack of success . Do you think rankled the president and someone like yourself the most . Ms. Jarrett i will give you three. Idp regret that we were unable to get congress to back just the simplest of laws requiring universal background checks before we give people access to lethal weapons. [applause] i just think, why, why wouldnt you do that . We focused a lot on the tragedy at sandy hook. It was certainly my worst day during the president s time in office. We heard the news and a couple of days later we went to newtown and participated in a Memorial Service for the 20 children and six adults that lost their life so viciously. Soon after i came back home to andago with the first lady attended the funeral of a woman who was murdered just a mile or so from her relived. Whether it was a mass tragedy or one daughter, we can do better. Another big disappointment was on comprehensive immigration reform. The president believes we are in nation of laws and a nation of immigrants and part of why we are the beacon of hope to the world and people are john to the United States is that this is the land of opportunity and we should have been able to get congress with the bipartisan support that we had to pass cover hence if immigration reform. It would have been a path to citizenship for many people in contributey who do mightily to our economy and our quality of lives, as well as providing opportunities for the people that come here and enjoy the incredible institutions. What do they do after these people get their degrees . We send them back home to compete in another country . Why would we not want to keep them here . Those jobs just create more jobs. I suppose the final one is one that disappoints me because it was one of virus once abilities, getting criminal Justice Reform legislation through congress. The goal there was to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. The prisons are full of people long to facilities where they could get help with substance abuse, had Mental Health challenges, they deserved a better education, needed a inh, and we need to invest people when they are incarcerated. And we need to be hiring them when they are released from prison to give them that Second Chance so they dont go through the revolving recidivism door. The piece of that that we didnt get done with the piece that required action, again, we had bipartisan support and i told the story and if anyone had told me that i would spend the quantity of time that i would have with the general counsel of coke industries, i would say that could be, but you know what . They were supportive. Grover norquist, physically conservative academic on the right, the aclu on the left, everyone in between, get and Still Congress refused to act. The good news there is that there is work going on across the country, including right here include in cook county, the state of illinois, cities, states, and counties passing legislation, the vast majority of people who are incarcerated at the state or local level, 2. 2 Million People in the country, in our prisons, some jailed on an annual basis, there is a lot of important work that can be done outside the federal government. Thank you. Can you describe the president president obamas leadership style for us . And as a followup, did you ever tell him no to something . What was his reaction . I will start with the first one, that was easier. [laughter] ms. Jarrett his management style, i think, first of all, takes the long view. There were a lot of decisions that he made as president that might not materialize or come to fruition for years on end and i think part of the challenge when you are an elected official is that you tend to by necessity focus on the election cycle. There are certain things you can do right after you are elected andt do in an Election Year you are finding your moment for bold change its limited and he always managed to say lets take the long view. There were people, for sample, who encouraged him not to go forward with the Affordable Care act. They said, say that for later, it will erode your popularity. His point was whats the point of being popular and was youre going to do bold things. This isnt a popularity contest. [applause] , theu think about it legislation was contested twice and the lawsuits went to the Supreme Court. So, it was important we had that runway, because it takes a while to get it done and i wish we had had four more years to have it firmly a part of the fabric and it would be harder to unravel. The we are finding out that it was hard to unravel anyways. Its a complicated piece of business. He takes the long view. Hes a very good listener. Room knowu in this him. Intellectually curious, high emotional intelligence. He gives you his undivided attention. Whether you were the most junior person in the world room or his cheap of staff chief of staff, he treated people as though if you are working in the white house, in my cabinet or my administration, he would appreciate this, having served hethe commerce department, wanted to know as much as he could before he made a decision, because a president s decisions are pretty important. So, you want to be informed and make intellectual decisions. He used to joke with us why dont you all ever bring me some of the easy decisions . [laughter] ms. Jarrett that is what the staff does, you get the tough ones, the ones that keep you up at night. I think it is important to note that he was very, very inclusive in his decisionmaking. And he wasnt afraid to make a decision. He didnt just admire a problem and enjoy the conversation. The whole point was to drive it to a conclusion so that he could make a decision and go on to the next one. He was very patient in that process. Patient not necessarily with all of us, though he never lost his temper over eight years, though im sure we give them reason to. He always had that kind of even temper. But he was patient in that if he didnt have all the information make the, he didnt decision. He would send us back and say answer these five more questions and then come back to me. The other big strength, i think, is that he considered diverse city a strength. He wanted to make sure that he surrounded himself with a whole range of people that came from different perspectives than he did. He listened most closely to those with whom he disagreed and i think at that improved his decisionmaking as well. Like his styleds is very different from the current occupant of the white house. [laughter] ms. Jarrett let me get to the other question you asked me, which was what happened when i would say no. Of all, you dont just say no, you say this is my opinion. Getting back to the management, people that were on his team felt so good about the decisionmaking process that in the end, when he made a decision , you couldnt remember where you started on it. We would end up in a different place. I think that when you are running the country and you need so many people to implement your decisions, its good to include them in the process along the way. Makes the implementation a lot more smooth and easy. You and your colleagues, susan and others, the other night you said in an interview that when you both worked for mayor Richard M Daley a you were terrified. Ms. Jarrett yes, we were. Mr. Mazur would you [laughter] ms. Jarrett you know what question are hes the mayor of the city of chicago, we were kind of young and thrilled to have these incredible positions he had given us. He believed in putting women into highpowered positions. Was the