Tina Flournoy

American political advisor (born 1956)
Tina Flournoy
Chief of Staff to the Vice President
In office
January 20, 2021 – May 16, 2022
Vice PresidentKamala Harris
Preceded byMarc Short
Succeeded byLorraine Voles
Personal details
Born (1956-04-30) April 30, 1956 (age 67)
U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationGeorgetown University (BA, JD)

Hartina M. "Tina" Flournoy (born April 30, 1956) is an American political advisor who served as chief of staff to vice president Kamala Harris from 2021 to 2022.

Education

Flournoy graduated from Georgetown University in 1978 and earned a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1984.[1]

Career

After graduating from Georgetown Law, Flournoy served as a clerk for Julia Cooper Mack of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Flournoy was the Assistant to the President for Public Policy at the American Federation of Teachers, an international union representing 1.6 million members. There, she directed the work of the legislative, political, field and mobilization, and human rights and community outreach departments.[2]

Flournoy served as an executive at tobacco giant Philip Morris.[3]

In 1992, Flournoy was Counsel to Paul Kirk and Ron Brown on the Democratic National Committee, the General Counsel for the 1992 Democratic National Convention, Deputy Campaign Manager for the Transition of Bill Clinton and Al Gore and an employee in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. During the 2000 United States presidential election, Flournoy was traveling Chief of Staff to the Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Lieberman and Finance Director for the Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign.[4]

In 2004, Flournoy worked on the transition of Howard Dean prior to his tenure as chair of the Democratic National Committee.[5][6]

In 2013 Flournoy took up a role as chief of staff for former President Bill Clinton.[7]

Chief of Staff to the Vice President

On December 3, 2020, it was announced that Flournoy would be Chief of Staff to then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and would continue the role once Harris was sworn in.[8]

In a June 30, 2021 article in Politico the vice president's office was described as dysfunctional, tense, and trustless with some of the blame resting with Flournoy. Politico interviewed 22 associates of Harris and president Biden and current and former vice presidential aides. The article came to the conclusion that Flournoy, in an effort to screen and protect Harris, created a restrictive environment where decisions are prolonged and ideas are met with dismissals or ignored.[9]

On April 21, 2022, the White House announced that Flournoy would be leaving the office. She was replaced with Lorraine Voles, former senior advisor to Vice President Harris and communications director to Vice President Al Gore and then-Senator Hillary Clinton.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Tina Flournoy". Institute of Politics and Public Service. Archived from the original on 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  2. ^ "Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Announces Members of White House Senior Staff". President-Elect Joe Biden. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  3. ^ Abramson, Jill (29 August 1999). "Tobacco Largess Is Touchy Subject For Gore and Bush". New York Times.
  4. ^ Jasmine Wright (3 December 2020). "Harris assembles staff as she builds her vice presidential portfolio". CNN. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  5. ^ staff, Madison365 (December 2020). "Vice President-elect Kamala Harris selects Tina Flournoy as her chief of staff". Madison365. Retrieved 2020-12-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "The Dean 25 Could Decide Clinton's Fate". www.cbsnews.com. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  7. ^ Ronayne, Kathleen (3 December 2020). "VP-elect Harris picks Tina Flournoy to be her chief of staff". Associated Press. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  8. ^ "VP-elect Harris picks Tina Flournoy to be her chief of staff". AP NEWS. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  9. ^ Cadelago, Christopher; Lippman, Daniel; Daniels, Eugene (2021-06-30). "'Not a healthy environment': Kamala Harris' office rife with dissent". Politico. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  10. ^ Garrison, Joey. "Vice President Kamala Harris' chief of staff Tina Flournoy to leave administration". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2022-04-22.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Chief of Staff to the Vice President
2021–2022
Succeeded by
  • v
  • t
  • e
Position Appointee
Chief of Staff to the Vice President Lorraine Voles
Counsel to the Vice President
Counselor to the Vice President
Assistant to the Vice President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison
Assistant to the Vice President and Director of Communications Jamal Simmons
Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Deputy National Security Adviser to the Vice President Philip Gordon
Policy Director to the Second Gentleman
National Security Adviser to the Vice President Nancy McEldowney
Position Appointee
Chief of Staff to the Second Gentleman Julie Mason
Director of Administration for the Office of the Vice President
Domestic Policy Adviser to the Vice President
Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to the Vice President
Press Secretary to the Vice President
Deputy Press Secretary to the Vice President
Director of Legislative Affairs
Director of Communications for the Second Gentleman