Audrey Gelman
Audrey Gelman | |
|---|---|
 Gelman at the 2019 Upfront Ventures Summit | |
| Born | June 2, 1987 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Oberlin College |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | The Wing |
| Spouse | Ilan Zechory |
| Children | 1 |
Audrey Gelman (born June 2, 1987) is an American businessperson and political staffer. She is the founder of The Wing, a women's co-working space and social club founded in New York City in 2016. She was the inspiration for Allison Williams's character Marnie on Girls.[1][2]
Early life and education
[edit]Gelman is the daughter of microbiologist Irwin Gelman and psychologist Lisa Speigel. She was raised in the Upper West Side.[3] Gelman attended the Lab School and Bard High School in New York City.[1] She began Oberlin College in 2005[4] and attended for two years before leaving to work for Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign for U.S. President.[1] She returned to New York after Clinton's primary defeat. She finished her bachelor's degree in political science at New York University.[4][5] During this time, she also appeared in the satirical web series Delusional Downtown Divas by Lena Dunham.[4]
Career
[edit]In 2008, Gelman worked as a press aide for Hillary Clinton's campaign for president.[6] She served as deputy communications director in Scott Stringer's successful campaign to win the position of New York City Comptroller in 2013.[7] During the 2012 presidential election, Gelman was involved with the revival of the political action committee Downtown for Democracy.[4] In 2013, Gelman joined the New York office of strategic consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker.[8]
In October 2016, Gelman launched The Wing, a women's co-working space with her co-founder Lauren Kassan.[9] Initially, she and Kassan raised $2.4 million to create the club, with "aspirations to resurrect the atmosphere of the women’s clubs of the late 19th and early 20th century suffrage movement."[10] The first location was in the Flatiron District.[11] The club had a founding membership of 200 women.[4]
In its first two years operations, the Wing did not have a formal membership policy and its practice was to only admit women and non-binary individuals.[12] On March 1, 2018, the New York City Commission on Human Rights started a "commission-initiated" investigation[13] into how The Wing membership system operates. In August 2018, a male applicant who was denied admission filed a lawsuit against The Wing for gender discrimination. Shortly afterwards, the company instituted its first formal membership policy which went into effect on September 24, 2018.[14] In June 2019, the Wing's motion to dismiss the lawsuit was denied and as of September 2019, the lawsuit was pending.[15]
In April 2017, The Wing announced it had raised a Series A led by venture capital fund New Enterprise Associates with support from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and an expansion to three new locations.[16][17] The Series A funding came to $8 million.[10] By November 2017, the club had around 1,500 members.[4] That month, The Wing launched the magazine No Man's Land[4] and also raised $32 million in a series B funding round, led by WeWork. By December 2017, The Wing had a second location in New York's Soho.[18]
In 2013, Politico listed Gelman as one of its 50 Politicos to Watch.[7] In the December 2014 issue of Forbes, Gelman was named one of its 30 Under 30: Corporate Climbers, and was previously named in the magazine's 30 Under 30: Law and Policy list.[19][20] In 2017, Fast Company named Gelman to their Most Creative People in Business list.[21] In December 2017, she was listed in a TechCrunch feature on 42 women succeeding in tech.[22]
Gelman endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[23]
In 2019, Gelman was featured on the cover of Inc. magazine, marking the first time a visibly pregnant woman appeared on the cover of a business magazine.[24]
In June 2020, after complaints about how The Wing failed to address racist behavior of its members and an employee walkout, Gelman resigned from her position as CEO.[25]
In April 2022, Gelman opened The Six Bells ("a new old country store") in Brooklyn.[26]
On August 31, 2022, the Wing shut down permanently.[27]
Personal life
[edit]Gelman dated photographer Terry Richardson from 2011 until 2013.[28] In April 2016, she married Genius co-founder Ilan Zechory[29] in Detroit.[30] Their first child was born in 2019.
She is a childhood friend of Lena Dunham; they both went on to attend Oberlin College.[1][2] Dunham has stated that Gelman is the inspiration for the Girls character Marnie.[1][2] Gelman portrayed the character of Audrey, a free-spirited new girlfriend of Marnie’s on-and-off boyfriend, in the early seasons of the show. [1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Hanas, Jim (January 15, 2013). "Meet Audrey Gelman: She's Like Marnie—Only Successful". The New York Observer. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ a b c Williams, Alex (October 4, 2013). "Audrey Gelman, the Girl Most Likely". The New York Times.
- ^ Hanas, Jim (2013-01-15). Meet Audrey Gelman: She's Like Marnie—Only Successful. Observer. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ^ a b c d e f g Rosman, Katherine (November 11, 2017). "The Wing, a Chic Women's Club, Is Going Wide". The New York Times.
- ^ "Audrey Gelman". SKDKnickerbocker. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ Williams, Alex (October 4, 2013). "Audrey Gelman, the Girl Most Likely". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ a b McCalmont, Lucy. "50 Politicos to Watch:Audrey Gelman". Politico.com. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ Hawkins, Andrew J. (April 4, 2013). "Gelman heads to SKDKnickerbocker". Crain's Insider.
- ^ Sisson, Patrick (October 13, 2016). "Inside The Wing, a women-only coworking space and social club in NYC". Curbed NY. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ a b "The club where business meets gender politics". Financial Times. June 9, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
- ^ "Peek inside The Wing's new Instagram-worthy Soho social club". October 31, 2017.
- ^ Trotter, J.K. "Women's club The Wing quietly dropped its practice of banning men after a man filed a $12 million gender discrimination lawsuit". Insider. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
- ^ Arnold, Amanda (March 27, 2018). "Women-Only Social Club Is Under Investigation by the NYC Human Rights Commission". The Cut. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ Robertson, Michelle (January 10, 2019). "Is a workspace designed for women discriminatory? The Wing instates formal membership policy". SF Gate. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
- ^ "Pietrangelo v. Refresh Club, Inc et al Court Docket Sheet". Docketbird. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
- ^ O'Connor, Clare. "Women's Club The Wing Raises $8 Million Series A, Adds 3 Locations". Forbes. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ Evans, Dayna. "Women's-Only Social Club The Wing Is Expanding". The Cut. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ "Women-only coworking spaces take on the boys' club of business". Wired. December 15, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
- ^ Dill, Kathryn. "30 Under 30: Corporate Climbers". Forbes.com. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ "30 Under 30: Law & Policy". Forbes.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ "Most Creative People in Business 2017 | Fast Company". Fast Company. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ "A look at 42 women in tech who crushed it in 2017". TechCrunch. December 22, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ Dawson Hoff, V. Elle April 13, 2015.
- ^ Akhtar, Allana. "The Wing's cofounder just became the first visibly pregnant CEO featured on a business magazine cover". businessinsider.com. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
- ^ Rosman, Katherine (June 11, 2020). "Audrey Gelman, the Wing's Co-Founder, Resigns". The New York Times. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
- ^ Peng, Chelsea (April 18, 2022). "Audrey Gelman Has Opened a 'Country Store' in Cobble Hill". The Strategist. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ "The Wing Shuts Down After a Tumultuous Few Years". The New York Times. August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ Valenti, Lauren (December 19, 2013). "Terry Richardson and Audrey Gelman Break Up, All Is Right in the World". Styleite. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ^ "Audrey Gelman and Ilan Zechory Embrace the Grit and Glamour of Motor City for Their Wedding". Vogue. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ "Audrey Gelman and Ilan Zechory Embrace the Grit and Glamour of Motor City for Their Wedding". Vogue. June 30, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
Further reading
[edit]- "Vanity Fair's Best-Dressed 2014". Vanity Fair.
- Abramovitch, Ingrid. "Stick 'Em Up: Brooklyn dweller Audrey Gelman talks about her New York digs as a haven, a home, and a hot spot". The Aesthete. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
- Lagorio-Chafkin, Christine (September 16, 2019). "The Wing Has $118 Million in Funding, Superfans Like Meryl Streep, and Plenty of Skeptics. It's Just Getting Started". Inc.com. Retrieved September 22, 2019.