Gretchen Carlson

Gretchen Carlson is a journalist and internationally recognized advocate for women’s rights, whose bold actions against Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes paved the way for the global #MeToo movement. A former CBS News and Fox News journalist, author, TED talk alum, and champion for workplace equality, Carlson was named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World”. She’s the co-founder of the non-profit Lift Our Voices which works to end silencing mechanisms in the workplace that keep toxic issues silent, a frequent contributor to CNN and MSNBC, a Fast Company contributor and the author of the best-selling books “Be Fierce” and “Getting Real”.

Her recent signature achievements include the passage of two laws in the most hyper-political time of our generation: the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act” and the “Speak Out Act” (2022) Working with a bi-partisan coalition of legislators in Congress the bills are the biggest labor law change in the last 100 years. She recently introduced the Protecting Older Americans Act, a bipartisan bill to eliminate forced arbitration for age discrimination which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2024.

Her advocacy has been honored by numerous national organizations including the YWCA’s Phenomenal Champion of Change Award and the Arizona Foundation for Women’s Sandra Day O’Connor Lifetime Achievement Award. Her story of harassment and retaliation at Fox News has also garnered international attention, including the Showtime mini-series “The Loudest Voice” and the movie “Bombshell.”

Carlson is a graduate of Stanford University who also studied at Oxford University. She serves on the Michelle Clayman Institute for Gender Research advisory board at Stanford University and is a member of Women Moving Millions. She and her husband live in Connecticut and have two college-aged children.