Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics

Valerie Biden Owens is considered to be among the first women in the United States to have managed a modern U.S. Senatorial campaign as well as a Presidential campaign.
 
Mrs. Biden Owens has led every campaign in her brother Joe Biden's political career, including seven straight U.S. Senate victories and his run for two Democratic Presidential nominations. She also has been his principle speaking surrogate on the campaign trail.
 
A 2008 New York Times article quotes David Wade, Mr. Biden's press secretary, "She is absolutely his political alter-ego and confidante. She talks with the campaign every day."
 
Ted Kaufman, a longtime chief of staff to Senator Biden, and former U.S. Senator, first met Valerie and Joe during Mr. Biden's first Senate campaign. He said, "There was no infighting, there was no backstabbing, all of those things that bring down campaigns, because everyone knew there was no getting between Val and Joe."
 
As Vice President Biden has written in his autobiography, Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics, his trust in his sister is complete. "She has been my best friend my entire life."  "Valerie Biden was the cornerstone that allowed me to sustain and then rebuild my family."
 
"They finish each other's sentences -- they're the yin and yang of the Biden family," said Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, President of Women's Campaign International.
 
When Valerie is not managing her brother's campaigns, she serves as Executive Vice President of Joe Slade White and Company, a media consulting firm in the United States.  She is a political strategist who works to help create and implement candidates' messages.
 
She has served on the National Board of the Women's Leadership Forum of the Democratic National Committee. As a pioneer for women's issues, Valerie has trained women on the political process, as well as on the issues. She has traveled extensively with Women's Campaign International to teach women in emerging democracies how to organize and develop communication and political skills. In 2009, she was a media trainer and consultant in Liberia at The International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security, which was co-convened by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of Finland.

In 2005, Delaware Technical and Community College, in Georgetown, Delaware, named her the International Women's Day Honoree.
 
Valerie has worked also with national and local organizations to educate women in the United States on how to organize and equip themselves with the basic tools of the art of politics.
 
Valerie continues to be an active guest lecturer, keynote speaker, and panelist on college campuses, radio talk shows, conferences, seminars, and civic and political organizations. She is an active participant in her community, where she has served on the board of The Ministry of Caring for over 25 years, an ecumenical organization dedicated to serving poor, homeless, and disadvantaged people. This past fall, the Ministry of Caring of Wilmington, Delaware honored her with the Sr. Ann Maguerite Gildea Award for her dedication and service to the poor and homeless over the past three decades. 

She is a graduate of the University of Delaware, and is married to Jack Owens, an attorney and businessman. They have three children. 

A high resolution photo of Valerie Biden Owens is available here>>