Photo provided.
2026 Kelly Lecture: The Honorable Valerie Jarrett
Thursday, March 5
7 p.m.
The O’Shaughnessy
Read more and book tickets: oshag.stkate.edu/jarrett
The Honorable Valerie Jarrett, JD, chief executive officer of The Obama Foundation, will speak at The O’Shaughnessy on March 5 as the 2026 Bonnie Jean Kelly and Joan Kelly Distinguished Visiting Scholar. Jarrett will reflect on her career in politics, the importance civic engagement, and her work empowering women to lead.
As CEO of The Obama Foundation, Jarrett currently oversees the Foundation’s programs and the creation of the Obama Presidential Center, a new museum and civic institution on Chicago’s South Side. She is a senior distinguished fellow at the University of Chicago Law School and the author of the New York Times bestselling Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward.
From 2009 to 2017, Jarrett served as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama — the longest-serving senior advisor to a president in history. In this role, she led the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, and chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls.
The event will be moderated by local journalist Brandi Powell of KSTP.
About the Kelly Lecture
In 2006, alumna Joan Kelly ’46 created the Bonnie Jean Kelly and Joan Kelly Distinguished Visiting Scholars Lecture in honor of her sister, Bonnie Jean Kelly. A successful businesswoman and Phi Beta Kappa graduate in English, Joan (May 22, 1924–Nov. 2, 2016) attended both high school and college on the St. Catherine campus with her sister, Bonnie Jean, who died while a student at St. Kate's.
The other two programs supported include the Bonnie Jean Kelly and Joan Kelly Faculty Excellence Award and the Bonnie Jean Kelly and Joan Kelly Student Excellence in Writing Award.