Meghan Markle has teamed up with one of the senior figures from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, adding fuel to the rumours that the Duchess is keen to enter the political sphere.
It emerged last night that Harry and Meghan had joined forces with Genevieve Roth, who will serve as a senior strategic advisor at the couple’s Archewell foundation.
Invisible Hand, a social impact agency founded by Roth, will also be working with Archewell on initiatives and campaigns.
Alaskan-born Roth, who says she has ‘a lifelong commitment to gender equity,’ previously served as the director of creative engagement for the 2016 Clinton Presidential campaign.
A graduate of Emerson College and the Columbia Journalism School Publishing Course, Roth also worked with The White House and Let Girls Learn, a US government initiative launched by former President Barack Obama and wife Michelle.
The news adds to the speculation that Meghan, who routinely uses her position to comment on gender and racial equality, is keen to launch a political career.
Invisible Hand will be working with the Duke and Duchess’s Archewell foundation on initiatives and campaigns
Meghan has joined forces with Genevieve Roth (pictured in 2014), who will serve as a senior strategic advisor at the couple’s Archewell foundation
Who is Genevieve Roth?
Genevieve Roth is the Founder and President of Invisible Hand
Alaskan-born Genevieve Roth is the Founder and President of Invisible Hand, a social impact and culture change agency.
More recently, the mother-of-one was made the Senior Strategic Advisor to Archewell, the organisation founded by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
She is the former Features Director of Marie Claire Australia and before that, held editorial positions at GQ and Esquire.
She left her job in magazines to serve as the director of creative engagement for the 2016 Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign.
The mother-of-one, whose husband is black, often speaks out about racism in America, and has written at length about the ‘racism in her own marriage’.
In an article for Primer, she wrote: ‘Race is an issue in our marriage because as a white woman of privilege, I have racist tendencies written in at a cellular level, and that can really gum up the works.’
And in an article for Good Housekeeping, Roth wrote about the notion of white privilege and her heightened understanding of it after marrying her husband, Jordan.
Ms Roth also worked as the executive director of special projects at Glamour magazine, and the producer of the Glamour Women of the Year Awards.
In 2014, Roth helped launch The Girl Project, Glamour’s ‘global philanthropic initiative’ supporting girls’ education.
Roth describes herself as an ‘expert on the intersection of narrative change, women’s empowerment, and social justice.’
Her agency Invisible Hand has created campaigns for clients including Archewell, PBS, The Obama Foundation, The XQ Institute, and The Girl Effect.
A graduate of Emerson College and the Columbia Journalism School Publishing Course, Roth also worked with The White House and Let Girls Learn, a US government initiative launched by former President Barack Obama and wife Michelle.
She was a 2018 Shorenstein Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
A statement said Invisible Hand would be focusing on ‘strategic change through storytelling and community building in support of gender and racial equity’.
A spokesman for the Sussexes added: ‘They join a rapidly expanding team that’s deeply dedicated to advancing systemic cultural change and supporting compassionate communities across the world.’
Numerous reports have suggested the Duchess is plotting a track to the White House – rumours which ramped up in the aftermath of her interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Meghan’s friends have previously encouraged speculation about her political ambitions – describing her rise from modest beginnings as ‘the embodiment of the American dream’.
The Duke, 36, and Duchess of Sussex, 39, last year faced a backlash after weighing in on the US election – breaking with centuries-old tradition that calls for members of the Royal Family to remain politically neutral.
But Meghan’s spokesman insisted her political activism would not end after the US election because she feels ‘encouraging people to get involved’ is ‘important’.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes said the comments were ‘not time specific’, telling Insider: ‘Part of being an active member of society is to take part in the democratic process. So encouraging people to get involved in politics is something that is important.’
The Duchess first confirmed her plan to vote in last year’s US election back in August during an interview with Marie Claire.
Meghan spoke about the importance of voting, saying: ‘I know what it’s like to have a voice, and also what it’s like to feel voiceless. I also know that so many men and women have put their lives on the line for us to be heard.
‘And that opportunity, that fundamental right, is in our ability to exercise our right to vote and to make all of our voices heard.’
In September, the couple recorded a video message for Times 100 urging Americans to vote, while hinting that they both supported Democrat Joe Biden.
Last year a royal source claimed the Duchess was aiming to become more ‘politically engaged’ after she and Prince Harry quit their roles as senior royals.
At the time, an insider told the Daily Mail that Meghan had grown ‘frustrated’ by the fact that she was not able to be actively involved in politics while she was a senior member of the monarchy, and that she wanted to ‘take advantage’ of the freedom to share her opinions with the world.
Before marrying Prince Harry, the Duchess was outspoken about her dislike of President Donald Trump, branding him ‘misogynistic’ and ‘divisive’ during a talk appearance in 2016, shortly after he had won the election.
When Trump made an official state visit to the UK in June 2019, Meghan did not join the other royals in meeting him.
Earlier this month, a senior Labour figure – a veteran of Tony Blair’s Downing Street administration with strong links to Washington – claimed to The Mail on Sunday that Ms Markle, 39, was networking among senior Democrats with a view to building a campaign and fundraising teams for a tilt at the US Presidency.
A source close to the Duchess of Sussex declined to comment, but the couple have made little secret of their political beliefs.
A source said: ‘The Blairite, internationalist and Democratic party networks are buzzing with talk about Meghan’s political ambitions and potential backers.’
Last year, a friend of the Duchess told Vanity Fair magazine that one of the reasons she did not give up her American citizenship when she married into the Royal Family was to allow her to keep open the option of entering Washington politics.
US constitutional experts responded that she would have to renounce her title if she wanted to hold public office in the States, because it would cut across the US oath of allegiance.
Genevieve Roth left her job in magazines to serve as the director of creative engagement for the 2016 Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign.
Buckingham Palace tried to distance the Royal Family from the remarks made during the US election by issuing a statement saying that ‘the Duke is not a working member of the Royal Family’ and describing his comments as ‘made in a personal capacity’.
The source added that the presumption was that the Duchess was eyeing 2024, when President Joe Biden will be 82 and deciding whether he wants to run for a second term.
If she made it to the White House, Meghan would be the first female US President – succeeding where Hillary Clinton narrowly failed four years ago – and the second non-white occupant of the Oval Office after Barack Obama.
She would also be following in the footsteps of President Ronald Reagan, who was a Hollywood actor for four decades before switching to politics.
During the 2020 campaign, the Duchess addressed the When All Women Vote Couch Party, the organisation co-founded by Michelle Obama to encourage participation in elections.
Prince Harry gets job at San Francisco-based mental health coaching firm Better Up: Duke will be Chief Impact Officer for company that works with US giants from Hilton to Chevron
The Duke of Sussex was unveiled on Tuesday morning as the chief impact officer at BetterUp with this corporate black and white photograph of Harry released at the same time. He was introduced to CEO Alexi Robichaux (right) through a mutual friend. He has refused to say how much Harry will be paid
By James Gant for MailOnline
Prince Harry has got his first job in business as an executive at a Silicon Valley start-up that claims to be worth $1.73billion – where he will promote an app used by corporate giants including Hilton, Facebook and oil giant Chevron to improve the mental health of their staff.
The Duke of Sussex was unveiled as the Chief Impact Officer at BetterUp, whose CEO Alexi Robichaux has declined to say how much the royal will be paid, but similar roles at other California firms would command six or seven-figure salaries.
Harry, who has served in the British Army but has no corporate experience, will not manage any employees but will be expected to appear at special company events and spend time at the company’s San Francisco for meetings once Covid restrictions are lifted.
The prince, who says he has been using BetterUp’s app since January, began talks with them about a role last Autumn after being introduced to USC graduate Mr Robichaux ‘through a mutual friend’.
BetterUp employs therapists and executive coaches on contracts, who are paired with clients to provide mental health coaching by video link through the app.
A statement on the company’s website said: ‘Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex is a humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate, and environmentalist’
The tech firm that works with corporate giants including Facebook, Google, Hilton and Warner Brothers. There will be some raised eyebrows because Harry has spoken widely on the need to protect the environment, but BetterUp has also worked with oil giant Chevron.
Explaining why he has taken the job, Harry told the Wall Street Journal in a suitably corporate response: ‘I intend to help create impact in people’s lives. Proactive coaching provides endless possibilities for personal development, increased awareness, and an all-round better life’.
He added: ‘This is about acknowledging that it isn’t so much what is wrong with us, but more about what has happened to us over the course of life. Often because of societal barriers, financial difficulty, or stigma, too many people aren’t able to focus on their mental health until they’re forced to. I want us to move away from the idea that you have to feel broken before reaching out for help’.
The company’s boss Alexi Robichaux says that Harry is an ideal fit for this latest ‘meaty role’. The business, founded in 2013, sells its app and services to big businesses with more than 10,000 employees, who can tap into a network of 2,000-plus life coaches whose aim is to help improve their happiness at work and at home, the company says.
Facebook and LinkedIn are paying for expensive on-the-clock ‘coaching’, where their workers can hold virtual meets with therapists to help them cope better with stress and set goals to achieve in their jobs.
