Biden Foundation brings on FSU alumna and former Obama White House expert

FSU alumna Lynn Rosenthal (BSW, 1980) and another former Obama White House expert, Gautam Raghavan are being hired by the Biden Foundation. The Foundation was created to build on the Biden family’s long-standing work including violence against women, cancer, community colleges and equality.

Rosenthal will serve as policy director for the ending violence against women pillar. From 2009-2015 she served as the first-ever White House Advisor on Violence Against Women for President Obama. As senior advisor to Vice Present Biden, Rosenthal developed initiatives addressing sexual violence, the reduction of domestic violence homicides, and improving workplace response to violence against women. In this role, she also co-chaired the White House Task Force to Protect Student from Sexual Assault on behalf of Biden and was the key advisor on the report’s recommendations.

Before her time as a White House advisor, Rosenthal was the executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, representing state domestic violence coalitions in Congress. She also worked closely with corporate leaders to develop funding initiatives addressing violence against women. She has also served as the executive director for state domestic violence coalitions in Florida and New Mexico and acted as a consultant in Florida to improve housing options for domestic violence survivors.

Raghavan was the former White House LGBTQ Liaison and will help to guide the Biden Foundation on its equality pillar.  He joined the White House as Deputy White House Liaison for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and as the Outreach Lead for DOD’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Working Group. He also worked previously for the Obama campaign, Democratic National Committee, and Progressive Majority, and is a graduate of Stanford University.