Martha Verno

Martha Verno serves as Chief of Staff at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In her role, Verno oversees strategic and digital communications, media relations, stakeholder engagement, and intergovernmental affairs for the agency. Focusing on making American children and families healthy again, Verno is responsible for amplifying ACF policy priorities that advance the Trump administration’s agenda.

Prior to joining ACF, Verno served as a Senior Director at Whiteboard Advisors — a policy research, advocacy, and strategic communications firm — where she led the firm’s early childhood portfolio and advised some of the nation’s most impactful businesses, associations, philanthropies, and nonprofits. Her work focused on architecting change-making and award-winning campaigns around literacy, child care supply, family engagement, early assessment, and home visiting, among other topics. Earlier in her career, she managed the national campaign on child care affordability and accessibility and conducted federal early childhood policy research at the American Enterprise Institute.

Verno holds a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science and International Relations from Claremont McKenna College.