Cheryl Mills (Clinton advisor)
Cheryl Mills | |
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Basic facts | |
Organization: | BlackIvy Group |
Role: | CEO and founder |
Location: | Washington, D.C. |
Expertise: | Politics |
Affiliation: | Democrat |
Education: | •University of Virginia (B.A.) •Stanford Law School (J.D.)[1] |
Website: | Official website |
Cheryl Mills is the founder and CEO of the BlackIvy Group, a firm that "builds and grows commercial enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa."[2] Formerly, Mills served as Hillary Clinton's chief of staff, while Clinton was U.S. secretary of state.[1]
Career
Early career
Cheryl Mills graduated from Stanford Law School and, in 1990, passed her bar exam.[1][5] Shortly thereafter, Mills worked as an associate at the legal firm Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C.[5] She represented school districts concerning the application of Brown v. Board of Education.[1]
Bill Clinton administration
Mills was appointed as the deputy general counsel of former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore's transition team, the Transition Planning Foundation, before the election in 1992.[1][5] After Clinton's election, she served as associate counsel to the president and, by 1998, Mills had become a deputy in the Office of White House Counsel.[5][6] She acted as one of Clinton's attorneys in 1997, when the Clinton re-election campaign was accused of "campaign fund-raising abuses."[5][7] In 1999, Mills defended Clinton before the U.S. Senate during the president's impeachment trial.[5][4]
Post-White House
After serving under the Clinton White administration, Mills, in 1999, was hired as the senior vice president for corporate policy and public programming at the cable and internet firm, Oxygen Media.[1][6]
In 2002, Mills served as the senior vice president for administration and operations as well as general counsel for New York University (NYU). She was also the executive secretary of the University Board of Trustees.[1][8][6] She remained at NYU until 2009.[6]
U.S. Department of State
- See also: U.S. Department of State
In 2009, Mills joined the staff of then-newly-appointed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.[1][6][9] Initially, Mills was part of the transition team, a temporary position, however, she stayed on and served as the chief of staff.[9] Mills was the counselor to the Department of State as well. Her job was to manage foreign policy and operational priorities. She oversaw the Obama administration's "$3.5 billion global hunger and food security initiative" and a $800 million development project in Haiti.[1][6]
BlackIvy Group
After her tenure at the Department of State, Mills founded the BlackIvy Group. According to its website, BlackIvy "builds and grows commercial enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa...develop[ing] logistics and infrastructure solutions for emerging economies and businesses that serve the needs of the growing consumer class."[2] The firm has locations in Ghana, Tanzania, and in Washington, D.C.[2] Mills serves as the firm's CEO.[1]
Board activity
Mills serves on several boards. She has been on the board of BlackRock, Inc., an investment firm, since 2013.[6] She is on the board of the Clinton Foundation and the See Forever Foundation.[1][8]
Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016
On August 3, 2016, Politico reported that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, if elected, would likely consider Cheryl Mills as a candidate for chief of staff, citing Mills' past relationship with the Clintons.[3] If Mills is given the position, she would be the first female chief of staff as well as the first African American to hold the position.[3]
See also
- Hillary Clinton
- Barack Obama
- Bill Clinton
- U.S. Department of State
- Clinton Foundation
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 BlackIvy, "Cheryl Mills," accessed August 4, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 BlackIvy, "Home," accessed August 4, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Politico, "Insiders game out Clinton's Cabinet," August 3, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Politico, "The only person who says no to Hillary," September 1, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 The Washington Post, "Mills: A Brand New Legal Star on the Rise," January 21, 1991
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 BlackRock, "BlackRock Announces Appointment of Cheryl D. Mills to Board of Directors," October 8, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Campaign Finance Timeline," accessed August 4, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Clinton Foundation, "Cheryl Mills," accessed August 4, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Washington Post, "A Q&A with former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills," October 12, 2015