COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Valerie Jarrett was the Deputy Chief of Staff to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley 20 years ago, she had the chance to interview a job candidate named Michelle Robinson. Today, Michelle Robinson is Michelle Obama, the First Lady.

Jarrett has also found her way to the White House as a trusted Obama advisor with the official position of Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Jarrett was in Columbus on Monday to take part in the Momentum 2010 event.

She told ONN's Jessa Goddard that one of Obama's first acts as President was to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which extended the statute of limitations for filing an equal pay act lawsuit. It fulfilled a campaign promise and a personal promise for the President.

"He grew up with a single mom. He watched his mother really have to make tough choices about being with him rather than pursuing her career. His grandmother had a career where she hit a glass ceiling and couldn't go any further," said Jarrett.

Less than two months later, Obama signed an executive order establishing the White House Council on Women and Girls. Jarrett is chair of that council.

The purpose of the group is to ensure issues such as equal pay, child leave and family care aren't just women's issues, but the federal government's priority.

"We've come a long way, we still have a very long way to go. And it's not just young women, it's working women, too. We're still earning 77 cents on the dollar (to men). How could that be?" said Jarrett.

It's a priority on the state level, too. First Lady Frances Strickland said demanding equal pay for equal work is the right and the responsibility of every woman in Ohio.

"And every time you do that, and you think somebody's wrong because they expected you to take the lower salary and you never said a word about it, you have participated in that," said Strickland.

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day and Jarrett is happy with the progress the administration is making for young women in the U.S.

"We have a new initiative focused on getting young girls to get involved in science, and technology, and engineering and math. And all of our different agencies are really trying to figure out ways to excite girls about the possibilities of careers that were perhaps not the traditional careers," she said.

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