Rohini Kosoglu & Margaret Hoover

Rohini Kosoglu's Biography

Rohini Kosoglu is a leading national policy expert and veteran of the White House, Congress, and presidential campaigns who has been at the forefront of driving transformative change in social, technology, and economic policy over the last two decades. Kosoglu recently served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President, where she was the first Asian American woman to serve in this position. She is currently a Venture Partner at Fusion Fund, a venture firm that focuses on early-stage technology and health care investments. She also is a Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) and Director of Innovation Policy at the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. 

In the White House, Kosoglu led and promoted initiatives on behalf of the President and Vice President to strengthen democracy, advance gender and racial equity, and create economic mobility for millions of American workers and families. Kosoglu also served as a key advisor during the creation and implementation of the American Rescue Plan, including the national response to the COVID-19 crisis, the CHIPS Act, the AI Bill of Rights, the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Cancer Moonshot. On behalf of the Vice President, she helped forge a number of public-private partnerships in the White House, ultimately driving billions of private sector dollars towards national priorities of the President and Vice President and leveraged the strengths of both the government and private-sector. Vice President Harris praised Kosoglu as “a brilliant and trusted leader” who “brought vision, strategic judgement, and a depth of experience as our Administration has addressed some of the most urgent challenges facing our nation.”

Kosoglu served as a Senior Advisor during both the Presidential transition and 2020 U.S. Presidential election on behalf of President Biden and Vice President Harris. In her campaign role, she also helped manage debate preparations for Vice President Harris. During the 2020 election, Kosoglu crafted policy initiatives to design a more inclusive economy for all communities, particularly those that have been historically left behind, and increase opportunities for American families and workers to succeed.

Earlier, Kosoglu made history as the first South Asian American woman to serve as Chief of Staff in the United States Senate under then-U.S. Senator Kamala Harris. She managed hearing preparations for some of the highest-profile Senate hearings over the last decade including investigations around data privacy, cybersecurity, and social media interference during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as Supreme Court nomination hearings. Additionally, under her organizational leadership, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies named Harris’ office under Kosoglu's tenure as the most diverse in the U.S. Senate.

Kosoglu’s career in the United States Congress has also included over a decade of leadership positions crafting social, economic, and technology policy initiatives with senior Democratic Senators, including U.S. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Notably, Kosoglu was a key negotiator during the passage of the historic Affordable Care Act. She also was a lead negotiator and drafter during the reform of the Food and Drug Administration which led to landmark designations for approval of innovative drugs and devices, known today as Breakthrough Therapies and Breakthrough Devices, respectively, as well as laws to strengthen patient-centered care in the 21st Century Cures Act.

Kosoglu was a former resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School and received her bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree from George Washington University. She serves on several nonprofit boards and advises across the public and private sectors.

Margaret Hoover's Biography

Margaret Hoover is the host of PBS’ Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, a public affairs, multi-platform program that engages in long-form interviews and a rigorous exchange of ideas with the guiding principle that civil discourse is a civic responsibility.

A CNN contributor, Ms. Hoover has served in The White House under President George W. Bush, in the Department of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill and on two presidential campaigns. She is the President of American Unity Fund, a political organization focused on achieving full freedom and equality for LGBT Americans. A bestselling author, her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News, The Daily Beast, CNN.com and FoxNews.com.

Ms. Hoover serves on the boards of Stanford University's Hoover Institution, the Hoover Presidential Foundation, the Belgian American Educational Foundation, The Markle Foundation, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Raised in Colorado, Hoover has lived in China, Mexico, Bolivia, and Taiwan, speaks fluent Spanish, and studied Mandarin Chinese. Ms. Hoover lives in New York City with her husband John Avlon and their two children.