Beth Kobliner is an author, commentator and journalist focused primarily on personal finance. She has written two New York Times bestselling books,¹ is a philanthropist through her family foundation,² and was on the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability during the Obama administration. ³ She is an ongoing donor to Democratic organizations and politicians such as Hilary Clinton and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). ⁴

Family and Career

Beth Kobliner was born in New York to a father who was a high school principal and a mother who was a homemaker and chemistry teacher. She went to Brown University and studied literature. After finishing college, she went to work for Sylvia Porter, a well-known author and columnist in the field of personal finance. Two years later, Kobliner joined Money magazine as a staff writer. ⁵ She has extensively discussed financial issues for 30 years as an author, commentator and journalist. She has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Glamour, Redbook, Forbes, and O, the Oprah Magazine. She has been a regular personal finance contributor to MSNBC, appeared on NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “Good Morning America,” NPR’s “Marketplace,” “The Takeaway,” “Oprah,” and PBS’s “Newshour.” ⁶

She is the author of two New York Times bestselling books on finance titled Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not), a guide for parents to teach their kids financial basics from ages 3 to 23 and Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties. ⁸ During her tenure at this position, she helped design President Obama’s financial literacy campaign called “Money as You Grow” which was aimed primarily at young people. She is married to billionaire and former hedge fund manager David Shaw. Together they have three children, live in New York City and are members of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. ⁹

Philanthropy

Kobliner and her husband David Shaw established a family foundation called the Shaw Family Endowment Fund that gives grants to various foundations. ¹⁰ In 2018, the fund donated a million dollars each to various prestigious schools such as Yale University, Brown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Columbia University and Princeton University. The fund also donated to other education institutions such as New York University ($500,000), Stanford University ($1,000,000), Horace Mann School ($75,000), and the University of California, San Diego ($100,000). The fund made donations to healthcare organizations such as The Mount Sinai Hospital ($200,000), the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center ($500,000) Northwell Health Foundation ($200,000) and the NYU Hospital Center ($100,000). ¹¹

Political Activity

Kobliner has been a continuous donor to various Democratic politicians and organizations since the 1990’s. The Democratic organization she has contributed the most to is the Democratic National Committee,¹² the principal party organ of the Democratic Party that is responsible for supporting Democrats campaigning for political office. ¹³ She also supported Barack Obama’s re-election campaign via multiple donations to Obama for America,¹⁴ the collective of Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign organizations,¹⁵ and the Obama Victory Fund 2012,¹⁶ a United States Federal Political Committee that exists to collect donations for President Obama’s campaign. ¹⁷ She contributed to Hilary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign in 2007 multiple times.

Kobliner also donated to Chuck Schumer¹⁸ who is the Senate Majority Leader and the senior United States Senator for New York. ¹⁹ She has donated to the DSCC,²⁰ a left-of-center organization whose function is to support Democratic candidates in their campaigns to be elected to the U.S Senate. ²¹ She has also donated to politicians such as former United States Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN),²² former U.S Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY),²³ and former United States Senator and U.S Ambassador to China Max Baucus (D-MT). ^{24 25}

1. “Mission & Bio.” Beth Kobliner. Last modified April 15, 2020. https://bethkobliner.com/mission-bio/.
2. Cohen, Rick. “Philanthropically Speaking, Who Are the Donors to Organizing for Action?” Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly. Last modified April 16, 2015. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/the-philanthropic-identities-of-donors-to-organizing-for-action/.
3. “President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts.” Whitehouse.gov. Last modified October 12, 2010. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2010/10/12/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts.
4. “Browse Individual Contributions.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Beth+Kobliner.
5. Iwata, Edward. “Wake-up Call for X’ers.” SFGATE. Last modified February 8, 2012. https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Wake-up-call-for-X-ers-3146385.php.
6. “Mission & Bio.” Beth Kobliner. Last modified April 15, 2020. https://bethkobliner.com/mission-bio/.
8. “Beth Kobliner’s Articles.” Inc.com. Accessed July 8, 2021. https://www.inc.com/author/beth-kobliner.[/note]

   In 2010, Kobliner was appointed to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability as a member by Barack Obama. ⁷“President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts.” Whitehouse.gov. Last modified October 12, 2010. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2010/10/12/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts.

9. Lee, Allen. “20 Things You Didn’t Know About David Shaw.” Money Inc. Last modified October 31, 2019. https://moneyinc.com/david-shaw/.
10. Cohen, Rick. “Philanthropically Speaking, Who Are the Donors to Organizing for Action?” Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly. Last modified April 16, 2015. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/the-philanthropic-identities-of-donors-to-organizing-for-action/.
11. “SHAW FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND CO SCOTT BARLEY.” Grantmakers.io. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://www.grantmakers.io/profiles/v0/260476590-shaw-family-endowment-fund-co-scott-barley/?.
12. “Browse Individual Contributions.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Beth+Kobliner.
13. “What We Do.” Democrats. Last modified February 17, 2021. https://democrats.org/who-we-are/what-we-do/.
14. “Browse Individual Contributions.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Beth+Kobliner.
15. Seitz-Wald, Alex. “Obama-aligned Organizing for Action Relaunches for Trump Era.” NBC News. Last modified February 10, 2017. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/democrats-vs-trump/obama-aligned-organizing-action-relaunches-trump-era-n719311.
16. “Browse Individual Contributions.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Beth+Kobliner.
17. “Obama Victory Fund PAC.” Bloomberg. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0585375D:US.
18. “Browse Individual Contributions.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Beth+Kobliner.
19. Jeffery, Lynsey. “Sen. Chuck Schumer Will Be the First Jewish Senate Majority Leader.” PBS NewsHour. Last modified January 20, 2021. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/live-update/inauguration-of-joe-biden-and-kamala-harris/sen-chuck-schumer-will-be-the-first-jewish-senate-majority-leader.
20. “Browse Individual Contributions.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Beth+Kobliner.
21. “About Us.” DSCC: Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Accessed July 7, 2021. https://www.dscc.org/about-us/.
22. Mulkern, Anne C. “K Street Snares Another Former Senator.” The New York Times Web Archive. Last modified January 31, 2011. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/01/31/31greenwire-k-street-snares-another-former-senator-28214.html.
23. Sayer, Ricky. “NY-22 House Seat to Become Vacant Jan. 3 with Court Case Continuing into 2021.” WBNG. Last modified December 22, 2020. https://wbng.com/2020/12/21/ny-22-house-seat-to-become-vacant-jan-3-with-court-case-continuing-into-2021/.
24. “BAUCUS, Max Sieben.” Bioguide Search. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/B000243.
25. “Browse Individual Contributions.” FEC.gov. Accessed July 10, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Beth+Kobliner.