Women Shaping Newsom Administration in Key Roles

When Jerry Brown was governor, he had several strong women advising him — including his wife, Anne Gust Brown, and Chief of Staff Nancy McFadden. Now Gov. Gavin Newsom is adding to that legacy with a new coterie of influential women.

Women like Ann O’Leary. She didn’t think she’d be working in California right now. In the final months of the 2016 presidential election, O’Leary was heading up the transition team for Hillary Clinton, who she fully expected would be the first female president of the United States. That didn’t work out, but O’Leary said she’s thrilled with where she ended up, as Newsom’s chief of staff.

“A lot of the agenda that Hillary Clinton had on her plate is similar to Gov. Newsom’s,” O’Leary said. “So I feel like in some sense it’s unfinished business, and I’m really delighted to be here.”

That agenda includes taking a comprehensive approach to early childhood education.

“We need a master plan for early ed,” she said. “That deals with paid family leave, that deals with high-quality, affordable child care, that deals with preschool, that ensures smart transitions into early elementary school.”

O’Leary is working on these issues with several other women, who make up 70 percent of the governor’s office staff. That includes Keely Bosler, director of the California Department of Finance, Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris and Cabinet Secretary Ana Matosantos.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom speaks onstage at the 2019 Women’s March Los Angeles on Jan. 19, 2019. (Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Women's March Los Angeles)

Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who calls herself the First Partner, said even though California has not had a women in the top job yet, women are still leading the state.

“We may not be the governor right now,” she said, “but I think all of these women have so much power and influence, and are wielding their power and their influence in really positive ways.”

Siebel Newsom said she wants to use her position to lift the voices of other women.

“I could see myself continuing to champion work that I care about,” she said, “which is elevating women, making sure that women have seats at the tables of power. Making sure that women’s voices are heard. Making sure that we address all the issues related to pay inequity, the wealth gap, reproductive rights, early childhood, universal preschool.”

Chief of Staff O’Leary agrees that women hold a lot of sway in the Newsom administration. But she acknowledges there’s still a lot of work to do in making state agencies more diverse and increasing the number of women in the Legislature, who currently hold 36 out of 120 total seats, or 30 percent.

“We need to make sure that young women see what we can do and know that this is this is something that can be done,” O’Leary said. “I like to say to people that while I’m the sixth woman to ever have this job, I’m the first woman to do this job while having school-age children.”

Copyright 2019 KQED