Former First Lady Jill Biden has reemerged in public life with a new title: Chair of the Milken Institute’s Women’s Health Network. The California-based think tank made the announcement on April 29, highlighting Biden’s leadership in its effort to improve outcomes in women’s health, a cause she championed during her husband’s presidency.
But while Biden is stepping into this high-profile role, her return to public advocacy is happening against the backdrop of rising scrutiny over the legacy of the Biden administration—and concerns that still swirl about her husband’s fitness for office in his final year.
According to the Milken Institute’s press release, Biden will work to “galvanize participation, collaboration, and shared action” in the realm of women’s health. “From endometriosis to healthy aging,” Biden noted, “it will take collaboration across industries to bring these innovations to scale.”
The organization—known for its wide-reaching influence in finance, health, and public policy—hosted Biden at its 28th Global Conference in Beverly Hills alongside political heavyweights like Tony Blair and Trump-era officials Scott Bessent and Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Biden’s new initiative builds on the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, which she led during her time as First Lady. Launched via presidential memorandum in 2023, the initiative sought to address a long-standing gap in medical research: the disproportionate focus on male physiology in drug trials, clinical studies, and medical education.
Speaking at the conference, Jill Biden emphasized the scale of the initiative, stating, “Joe said, ‘Let’s infuse the federal government with money.’ In one year, we put in $1 billion to advance women’s research.” She described efforts to shift research frameworks within the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense, including incentives to attract private investment into previously “risky” research areas like women’s health.
But her post-White House return to public advocacy is not without political weight. Biden left her long-held teaching post at Northern Virginia Community College in December 2024, just as the Biden presidency was winding down amid reports of internal turmoil.
Two upcoming books—“2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America” and Chris Whipple’s “Uncharted”—reportedly detail staffers’ concerns about President Biden’s cognitive state, including decisions to avoid a cognitive test in 2024 and isolate him from unscripted interactions.
Jill Biden, often seen as the president’s closest advisor and stabilizing presence, has never publicly addressed these concerns in detail. But her move into the nonprofit sector—and especially a high-profile, health-focused leadership position—offers a way to remain influential without returning to electoral politics. It also signals that, while the Biden era in the White House may have ended, its policy tentacles are extending into think tanks and advocacy spaces nationwide.
The Milken Institute, which brands itself as nonpartisan but holds significant sway in elite policy circles, now adds a former First Lady to its roster. Whether Jill Biden’s new role becomes a platform for real policy transformation or another layer of prestige for the institute’s global ambitions remains to be seen.
