Valerie B. Jarrett

The 27th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Luncheon returns to the Peoria Civic Center on Monday, Jan. 21.

Featured speaker this year is Valerie B. Jarrett, senior advisor to the Obama Foundation. Luncheon begins at noon; doors open at 11a.m. Luncheon tickets are $50 per person, tables of 10 for $500.

Jarrett is a senior advisor to the Obama Foundation and a Senior Distinguished Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School. She also serves on the boards of Ariel Investments, 2U, Lyft, and the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

Jarrett was the longest serving senior advisor to President Barack Obama. She oversaw the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls.

Jarrett worked throughout her tenure at the White House to mobilize elected officials, business and community leaders, and diverse groups of advocates. She led the Obama Administration’s efforts to expand and strengthen access to the middle class, and boost American businesses and our economy.

She championed the creation of equality and opportunity for all Americans, and economically and politically empowering women in the United States and around the world. Jarrett oversaw the administration’s advocacy for workplace policies that empower working families, including equal pay, raising the minimum wage, paid leave, paid sick days, workplace flexibility, and affordable childcare, and led the campaigns to reform our criminal justice system, end sexual assault, and reduce gun violence.

Prior to serving in the White House, Jarrett served as the chief executive officer of The Habitat Company in Chicago, chairman of the Chicago Transit Board, commissioner of Planning and Development, and deputy chief of staff for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

She also served as the director of numerous corporate and not-for-profit boards including chairman of the board of the Chicago Stock Exchange, chairman of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board of Trustees, and director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Jarrett has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including TIME’s “100 Most Influential People” as well as the Abner J. Mikva Legal Legends Award.

Jarrett received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1978 and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.