Gretchen Carlson, acclaimed journalist and co-founder of the nonprofit LIft Our Voices, is a fierce, fearless, and internationally recognized advocate for women’s rights, whose bold actions against Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes helped pave 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”. As the co-founder of LOV, she which works to end silencing mechanisms in the workplace that keep toxic issues secret. She's also a frequent contributor to CNN an MSNow, and the author of the New York Times bestsellers “Be Fierce” and “Getting Real.” Carlson’s story of harassment and retaliation at Fox News garnered international attention, including the Showtime mini-series “The Loudest Voice” and the movie “Bombshell.”

Working with a bi-partisan coalition of legislators in Congress, her signature advocacy achievements include the passage of the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act” (2022) and the Speak Out Act (2022); two of the biggest labor law changes in the last 100 years eradicating arbitration and pre-dispute non-disclosure agreements for workplace sexual misconduct. More recently, her work has been instrumental in passing the bipartisan “Protecting Older Americans Act” eliminating forced arbitration for age discrimination in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Carlson has been honored by numerous organizations, including the New York Women in Communications’ Matrix Award; the Radio Television Digital News Association’s First Amendment Leadership Award; the National Organization for Women’s Women of Power and Influence Award; the YWCA Phenomenal Champion of Change; and the Arizona Foundation for Women’s Sandra Day O’Connor Lifetime Achievement Award.

Carlson serves on the Advisory Board for the Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University and the Center for Ethical Leadership in Media Advisory Board at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also a member of the philanthropic organization Women Moving Millions.

An honors Stanford University graduate who also studied at Oxford University, Carlson was a violin prodigy who performed with the Minnesota Orchestra as a soloist at 13 and was one of her high school's valedictorians. In 1989 she became the first classical violinist to win Miss America.

Carlson is married to sports executive Casey Close. The couple has two children.