Leadership

Lynn Rosenthal, M.P.A.

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Population Affairs

Director, Office of Adolescent Health

Lynn Rosenthal, M.P.A. is Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Population Affairs. She brings experience in health care and gender equity to this position. Lynn also serves as the Director of Sexual and Gender-based Violence at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she leads the Department’s work to implement the National Plan to End Gender-based Violence and related initiatives.

Before this appointment, Lynn served as President of the Center for Family Safety and Healing at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, a multi-service organization providing child advocacy, maternal health care, and domestic violence services. In 2021, Secretary Austin appointed Lynn to chair the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Harassment and Assault in the U.S. Military, where she led the development of landmark recommendations on military justice and prevention of sexual assault.

From 2009 to 2015, Lynn was the first-ever White House Advisor on Violence Against Women and a senior advisor to then-Vice President Biden. In this capacity, she advised President Obama and Vice President Biden on gender-based violence and led the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. Her policy work included improvements to the Violence Against Women Act, new initiatives to address violence in the workplace, health disparities related to HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence, and prevention of teen dating violence. Lynn has also served as executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence and state domestic violence coalitions in New Mexico and Florida.

Early in her career, Lynn worked in reproductive health care for fifteen years as a health educator, organizer, and clinic administrator in Florida. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Florida State University and a Master's in Public Administration from Ohio University.