Alethea Harney serves as Chief of Staff at the National Women’s Law Center, where she helps drive organizational strategy, strengthen leadership coordination, and advance the organization’s mission to expand gender justice and economic opportunity. A strategic communications and public affairs leader, she brings more than two decades of experience across government, advocacy, and the private sector, advising senior leaders including Presidents, Governors, and CEOs on advancing major public initiatives.

Most recently, Alethea served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff at the White House and on the Harris-Walz campaign, where she directed his public engagement, global diplomacy, and priority policy initiatives.

Previously, she served as Senior Advisor to the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, helping lead national policy rollouts and strengthen agency-wide communications across ten regional offices while advancing historic federal investments in climate resilience, clean energy, and environmental justice.

Earlier in her career, Alethea served as Vice President and Head of North American Communications for a global energy company, where she led teams managing multi-million-dollar communications budgets and advised senior executives navigating complex regulatory and sustainability landscapes across the United States and Canada.

She also served as Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs in Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s Economic Stimulus Office and as press secretary on Elizabeth Warren’s first U.S. Senate campaign, which made Warren the first woman ever elected statewide in Massachusetts.

Alethea is a graduate of Tufts University and lives with her family in Washington, D.C.