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Time’s Up Picks New CEO to Further ‘National Conversation’

Time’s Up Picks New CEO to Further ‘National Conversation’

(Bloomberg) -- Time’s Up, the advocacy organization born out of the #MeToo movement, named a new chief executive officer from within its ranks as the nearly two-year-old group tries to maintain momentum.

Tina Tchen, a founding member of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund and former chief of staff to Michelle Obama, will take the place of Lisa Borders, who resigned as CEO more than six months ago after her son was accused of sexual misconduct.

“What we have is a moment in time unlike any other I’ve seen, which is a real national conversation,” Tchen said in an interview. “We really are at a transformational moment. They don’t come around very often, and it almost feels like you’ve got to seize them.”

Tchen will leave her partnership at Buckley LLP, where she leads the law firm’s workplace culture practice, and move to Time’s Up full-time at the beginning of November.

For the last two years, Tchen has worked part time on the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, an organization that connects victims of workplace sexual harassment with lawyers. The fund, operated by the National Women’s Law Center, has so far served more than 3,600 individuals, setting them up with lawyers or public-relations specialists.

Time’s Up Picks New CEO to Further ‘National Conversation’

Tchen says she doesn’t see support, interest or donations waning, even two full years since the allegations against Harvey Weinstein motivated women in Hollywood to organize and found Time’s Up.

“This is a news cycle that has lasted two years, which is pretty long for a news cycle,” Tchen said. Since last year, the fund has raised an additional $2 million, bringing its total to $24 million.

Raising Funds

One of Tchen’s main goals as CEO is increasing the size of the fund and its work, she said. Time’s Up will open up an office in Chicago, where Tchen is based, adding to its locations in New York, Los Angeles and Washington.

“I also think it’s important for us not to just be an organization that’s just on the coasts,” she said.

Keeping sexual harassment and workplace inequality issues in the conversation is part of her plan to keep people interested.

“One of our jobs at Time’s Up is to make sure people know that this is an issue that hasn’t been solved.”

On Monday, the group also announced the Time’s Up Impact Lab, with a grant from Pivotal Ventures, Melinda Gates’s new incubator dedicated to promoting gender equality. The lab will attempt to measure the efficacy of workplace policies intended to reduce sexism and harassment.

Tchen also says she will continue much of the other work already underway at Time’s Up, including advocacy to promote public-policy solutions and the organization’s work on equal pay. This year, Time’s Up announced a partnership with the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team to fight workplace pay inequality.

“This isn’t just about sexual harassment,” Tchen said. “Sexual harassment occurs when you have a workplace that isn’t inclusive, diverse and equitable.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Greenfield in New York at rgreenfield@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Nick Turner, Rob Golum

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