{{Short description|American political advisor (born 1956)}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Tina Flournoy | image = Tina Flournoy, VP Chief of Staff.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Flournoy in 2021 | office = [[Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States|Chief of Staff to the Vice President]] | vice_president = [[Kamala Harris]] | term_start = January 20, 2021 | term_end = May 16, 2022 | predecessor = [[Marc Short]] | successor = [[Lorraine Voles]] | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|4|30}} | birth_place = [[United States|U.S.]] | death_date = | death_place = | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | education = [[Georgetown University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Juris Doctor|JD]]) }} '''Hartina M. "Tina" Flournoy''' (born April 30, 1956) is an American political advisor who served as [[Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States|chief of staff]] to [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] [[Kamala Harris]] from 2021 to 2022.
== Education == Flournoy graduated from [[Georgetown University]] in 1978 and earned a [[Juris Doctor]] from the [[Georgetown University Law Center]] in 1984.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tina Flournoy|url=https://politics.georgetown.edu/profile/tina-flournoy/|access-date=2020-12-03|website=Institute of Politics and Public Service|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203173810/https://politics.georgetown.edu/profile/tina-flournoy/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Career == After graduating from Georgetown Law, Flournoy served as a [[Law clerk|clerk]] for [[Julia Cooper Mack]] of the [[District of Columbia Court of Appeals]].
Flournoy was the Assistant to the President for Public Policy at the [[American Federation of Teachers]], an international union representing 1.6 million members. There, she directed the work of the legislative, political, field and mobilization, and human rights and community outreach departments.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-03|title=Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Announces Members of White House Senior Staff|url=https://buildbackbetter.gov/press-releases/vice-president-elect-kamala-harris-announces-members-of-white-house-senior-staff/|access-date=2020-12-03|website=President-Elect Joe Biden|language=en-US}}</ref>
Flournoy served as an executive at tobacco giant [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Abramson|first=Jill|date=29 August 1999|title=Tobacco Largess Is Touchy Subject For Gore and Bush|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/29/us/tobacco-largess-is-touchy-subject-for-gore-and-bush.html|work=[[New York Times]]|location= |access-date=}}</ref>
In 1992, Flournoy was Counsel to [[Paul G. Kirk Jr.|Paul Kirk]] and [[Ron Brown]] on the [[Democratic National Committee]], the General Counsel for the [[1992 Democratic National Convention]], Deputy Campaign Manager for the [[Presidential transition of Bill Clinton|Transition of Bill Clinton and Al Gore]] and an employee in the [[White House Office of Presidential Personnel]]. During the [[2000 United States presidential election]], Flournoy was traveling Chief of Staff to the [[2000 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection|Democratic vice-presidential nominee]] [[Joe Lieberman]] and Finance Director for the [[Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign]].<ref>{{Cite web|author=Jasmine Wright|title=Harris assembles staff as she builds her vice presidential portfolio|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/03/politics/kamala-harris-staff/index.html|access-date=2020-12-03|website=CNN|date=3 December 2020 }}</ref>
In 2004, Flournoy worked on the transition of [[Howard Dean]] prior to his tenure as chair of the Democratic National Committee.<ref>{{Cite web|last=staff|first=Madison365|title=Vice President-elect Kamala Harris selects Tina Flournoy as her chief of staff|url=https://madison365.com/vice-president-elect-kamala-harris-selects-tina-flournoy-as-her-chief-of-staff/|access-date=2020-12-03|website=Madison365|date=December 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Dean 25 Could Decide Clinton's Fate|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-dean-25-could-decide-clintons-fate/|access-date=2020-12-03|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=18 April 2008 |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2013 Flournoy took up a role as chief of staff for former President Bill Clinton.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ronayne|first=Kathleen|date=3 December 2020|title=VP-elect Harris picks Tina Flournoy to be her chief of staff|url=https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-al-gore-hillary-clinton-campaigns-bill-clinton-486eaa769f50908494e8a719cb3ab1dc|work=[[Associated Press]]|location= |access-date=2 July 2021}}</ref>
==Chief of Staff to the Vice President== On December 3, 2020, it was announced that Flournoy would be [[Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States|Chief of Staff]] to then-[[President-elect of the United States|Vice President-elect]] [[Kamala Harris]] and would continue the role once Harris was sworn in.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-03|title=VP-elect Harris picks Tina Flournoy to be her chief of staff|url=https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-al-gore-hillary-clinton-campaigns-bill-clinton-486eaa769f50908494e8a719cb3ab1dc|access-date=2020-12-03|website=AP NEWS}}</ref>
In a June 30, 2021 article in ''[[Politico]]'' the vice president's office was described as dysfunctional, tense, and trustless with some of the blame resting with Flournoy. Politico interviewed 22 associates of Harris and president Biden and current and former vice presidential aides. The article came to the conclusion that Flournoy, in an effort to screen and protect Harris, created a restrictive environment where decisions are prolonged and ideas are met with dismissals or ignored.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cadelago |first1=Christopher |last2=Lippman |first2=Daniel |last3=Daniels |first3=Eugene |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/kamala-harris-office-dissent-497290 |title='Not a healthy environment': Kamala Harris' office rife with dissent |work=[[Politico]] |date=2021-06-30 |accessdate=2021-07-01 }}</ref>
On April 21, 2022, the White House announced that Flournoy would be leaving the office. She was replaced with [[Lorraine Voles]], former senior advisor to Vice President Harris and communications director to Vice President [[Al Gore]] and then-Senator [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Garrison |first=Joey |title=Vice President Kamala Harris' chief of staff Tina Flournoy to leave administration |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/21/vp-kamala-harris-chief-staff-tina-flournoy-leave-administration/7402414001/ |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Post White House == On March 24, 2023, Flournoy was appointed to the [[President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition|President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Tina Flournoy |url=https://health.gov/our-work/pcsfn/council-members/tina-flournoy |access-date=May 4, 2024 |website=US Department of Health and Human Services}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{C-SPAN}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[[Marc Short]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States|Chief of Staff to the Vice President]]|years=2021–2022}} {{s-aft|after=[[Lorraine Voles]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Harris Vice Presidential staff}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flournoy, Hartina}} [[Category:1956 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Georgetown University Law Center alumni]] [[Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:Democratic National Committee people]] [[Category:Biden administration personnel]] [[Category:Clinton administration personnel]] [[Category:20th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:20th-century American women lawyers]] [[Category:21st-century American lawyers]] [[Category:21st-century American women lawyers]] [[Category:Chiefs of staff to the vice president of the United States]] [[Category:20th-century African-American lawyers]] [[Category:21st-century African-American lawyers]]