TIPPER GORE

"In my life, I take pride in my role as a homemaker who also had the opportunity to pursue personal interests such as photography and working on mental health and homelessness issues. This is an exciting time when a woman can achieve anything she sets out to do. Set your goals high and remain true to your vision and your heart."

Tipper Gore is the wife of Vice President Al Gore. She is a well-known child advocate and actively involved with issues related to mental health and homelessness.

Mrs. Gore currently serves as Mental Health Policy Advisor to the President. She is committed to eradicating the stigma associated with mental illness and substance abuse and continues to work toward ensuring quality, affordable mental health care.

Mrs. Gore also serves as Special Advisor to the Interagency Council on the Homeless. She serves in a leadership capacity with representatives from 17 member agencies to improve the effective delivery of federal homeless assistance resources and program coordination at the state and local level. A longtime advocate for the homeless, Mrs. Gore's second book, "Picture This, A Visual Diary," is a personal photographic representation of life as wife of the Vice President. "Picture This" was published in 1996, and proceeds were donated to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1990, Mrs. Gore founded Tennessee Voices for Children, a coalition to promote the development of services for children and youth with serious behavioral, emotional, substance abuse, or other mental health problems. She also served as co-chair of the Child Mental Health Interest Group, a nonpartisan group of Congressional and Administration spouses.

In 1986, Mrs. Gore co-founded and chaired Families for the Homeless, a nonpartisan partnership of families that aims to raise public awareness of homeless issues. She forged a partnership with the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) to produce a major photographic exhibit entitled "Homeless in America: A Photographic Project."

Mrs. Gore also contributed to the formation of the Congressional Wives Task Force, serving as Chair in 1978 and 1979. The task force sought to draw attention to the violence that children were exposed to through the media. Mrs. Gore later founded an organization to encourage the voluntary labeling of explicit music lyrics and wrote "Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society," a book about parenting and the media.

Born Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson on August 18, 1948, Mrs. gore grew up in Arlington, Virginia; she was nicknamed Tipper by her mother. In 1970, she married Al Gore from Carthage, Tennessee. They have four children: Kareena (August 6, 1973), Kristin (June 5, 1977), Sarah (January 7, 1979) and Albert III (October 19, 1982).

Mrs. Gore received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Boston University in 1970 and her master's degree in psychology from George Peabody College at Vanderbilt University in 1975. Mrs. Gore worked as a newspaper photographer for the Nashville Tennessean until her husband was elected to Congress in 1976. A strong proponent of regular exercise, she jogs, bikes, hikes, skis and roller blades.

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