Ivanka to work for women

Photo: The Canadian Press

She may not be working in the White House, but that doesn't mean Ivanka Trump is staying out of politics.

Although she has said she will have no official role in her father's administration, Ivanka Trump has been quietly laying the groundwork for an effort that could make her perhaps the best-connected policy advocate in Washington. Trump, who has made clear she wants to push for policies benefiting women and girls, last week sought the advice of a group of female executives and media stars in New York City. And transition aides have reached out to congressional staff on childcare policies, an area she has urged President-elect Donald Trump to prioritize.

In a Facebook post detailing her next moves, Ivanka Trump thanked people who had reached out on such issues and added that she is determining the "most impactful and appropriate ways for me to serve our country."

It is not clear if Trump will establish herself independently or if she will eventually enter the White House. But operating from the outside may take her into uncharted territory, as there are few recent examples of a first family member without a White House office advocating for policies. The closest model is the first lady, who has an office in the East Wing.

For now, the businesswoman has said only that she is stepping away from executive roles at the Trump Organization and her lifestyle brand and is moving her family to Washington so that her husband Jared Kushner can take a job as a senior adviser. She has also stressed that she wants to focus on settling her three young children in a new home.

But Ivanka Trump is also thinking beyond that.

On Thursday, she attended a dinner with female executives at the home of her friend Wendi Deng, ex-wife of media executive Rubert Murdoch. The dinner was put together by Dina Powell, a Goldman Sachs partner who is joining the Trump administration as an assistant to the president and senior counsellor for economic initiatives. Powell has been advising Ivanka Trump and is expected to continue working closely with her.

Other guests included MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski, model Christy Turlington Burns, former White House press secretary Dana Perino, Xerox Chairperson Ursula Burns, Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert, Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Leive and Time Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs. Another attendee, Pattie Sellers, executive director of Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summits, wrote on Fortune.com that Ivanka Trump "explained that she wanted to learn from the efforts of leaders in their fields."

Also there was Sheila Marcelo, founder of www.care.com, a website that connects families with caregivers, said an attendee who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a private dinner. Marcelo spoke about the high cost of caregiving — both for children and adult family members.

The attendee said the group also discussed the Trump transition team's recent outreach to the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee staff about Trump's child care proposals. Asked about news reports about the outreach, Ivanka Trump noted that these were priorities for the president-elect, the source said.

A Trump Transition spokesperson declined to comment on the event.