Faculty Profiles
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Ann M. O'Leary
Title: Lecturer in Residence; Executive Director, Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security
Office: 2850 Telegraph - Office 421
Tel: 510-643-2335
Fax: 510-666-3438
Email Address: aoleary@law.berkeley.edu
Ann is the Executive Director of the newly-founded Berkeley Center for Health, Economic & Family Security (Berkeley CHEFS) located at UC Berkeley School of Law. The mission of Berkeley CHEFS is to develop and advance creative solutions to address the economic risks faced by working Americans with a focus on improving access to health care, developing better protections for workers who are voluntarily or involuntarily on leave from their jobs, supporting working parents in a flexible workplace, and ensuring that seniors can be secure in their retirement years. Ann is also a Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank based in Washington, DC.
Ann previously served as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of San Francisco where she served as counsel to the San Francisco Elections Department and spearheaded an effort to develop affirmative public policy litigation on behalf of San Francisco’s working poor. Prior to her work in the City Attorney's office, Ann clerked for the Honorable John T. Noonan, Jr. on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. From 1994 through 2001, Ann served in a number of positions in the Clinton Administration, including as special assistant to the President in the Domestic Policy Council and as senior policy advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Education, and from 2001 to 2003, she served as legislative director for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Ann serves on the boards of San Francisco-based Public Advocates, a non-profit public law office focused on challenging the systemic causes of poverty and discrimination by promoting civil rights, and the Bay Area American Constitution Society Chapter. Ann also served as a volunteer policy advisor to the Hillary Clinton for President campaign on issues related to children and working families.
Ann received her bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College, her master’s degree from Stanford University, and her law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law. Ann is the author of How Family Leave Laws Left Out Low-Income Workers, 28 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 1 (2007).
