After
- Visits colleges and speaks with education majors
- She remembers the day her husband left office in solemn pride
- She refers to her life now as “the afterlife”
Ladies in the House
“One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.”
Before
- High School Diploma
- Bachelors Degree in Education
-Masters Degree in Library Science
- Taught at Longfellow Elementary School and John F. Kennedy Elementary School
- Librarian at Houston Public Library and Dawson Elementary
- High School Diploma
- Bachelors Degree in Sociology
- Law Degree
Before
First Lady
2001-2009
- Executive director for the Chicago office of Public Allies- Associate dean of student services at University of Chicago
- Executive director of community relations and external affairs at University of Chicago Hospitals then was appointed to vice president for community and external affairs
- Served as a board member for the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Main Goal:
Improve Literacy
in United States
-As leader of Helping America's Youth initiative she helped teach more than 1,000 community members new strategies to address the needs of at-risk youth through national conferences
-Strong advocate of the No Child Left Behind, Early Reading Program, Covenant House, and many other programs helping young children
-Hosted a children’s radio program, started a national book festival, and created “Ready to Read, Ready to Learn”
-Helped families understand how to comfort children traumatized by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001
Now
- Launched Joining Forces
nationwide initiative that gives families and our service men opportunities and support, and to raise awareness of military families' unique needs as pertains to employment, education and wellness
Main Goal:
Improve
Nation's Health
First Lady
2009-Present
- Visited schools, partnered with professional athletes, and worked with community and business leaders to help children and their families develop lifelong healthy habits
- Helped mobilize teachers, doctors, nurses and parents to attempt to decrease childhood obesity within a generation
- Created the Lets Move Program, which strives to get the entire community and schools involved to promote a healthy lifestyle
Strong Independent Women
Now you can see these women are not just first ladies. They are powerful determined women who stood up for what they believed in and worked for everything they received.
Are you ready to
make a difference?
"The power of a book lies in its power to turn a solitary act into a shared vision. As long as we have books, we are not alone. "
Emily, Jordan, Sarah, Dana