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 resigned from her position as The Wing's CEO in June 2020.[1] She was the inspiration for Allison Williams's character Marnie on Girls.[2][3]
Early life and education
Born to Irwin Gelman (a microbiologist) and Lisa Speigel (a psychologist), she was raised in the Upper West Side, an affluent neighbourhood in Manhattan.[4] Gelman attended the Lab School and Bard High School in New York City.[2] She began Oberlin College in 2005[5] and attended for two years before leaving to work for Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign for U.S. President.[2] She returned to New York after Clinton's primary defeat. She finished her bachelor's degree in political science at New York University.[5][6] During this time, she also appeared in the satirical web series Delusional Downtown Divas by Lena Dunham.[5]
Career
In 2008, Gelman worked as a press aide for Hillary Clinton's campaign for president.[7] She served as deputy communications director in Scott Stringer's successful campaign to win the position of New York City Comptroller in 2013.[8] During the 2012 presidential election, Gelman was involved with the revival of the political action committee Downtown for Democracy.[5] In 2013, Gelman joined the New York office of strategic consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker.[9]
In October 2016, Gelman launched The Wing, a women's co-working space with her co-founder Lauren Kassan.[10] 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."[11] The first location was in the Flatiron District.[12] The club had a founding membership of 200 women.[5]
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.[13] On March 1, 2018, the New York City Commission on Human Rights started a "commission-initiated" investigation[14] 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.[15] In June 2019, the Wing's motion to dismiss the lawsuit was denied and as of September 2019, the lawsuit was pending.[16]
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.[17][18] The Series A funding came to $8 million.[11] By November 2017, the club had around 1,500 members.[5] That month, The Wing launched the magazine No Man's Land[5] 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.[19]
In 2013, Politico listed Gelman as one of its 50 Politicos to Watch.[8] In the December 2014 issue of Forbes, Audrey 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.[20][21] In 2017, Fast Company named Gelman to their Most Creative People in Business list.[22] In December 2017, she was listed in a TechCrunch feature on 42 women succeeding in tech.[23]
Gelman endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[24]
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.[25]
In June 2020, Gelman resigned from her position as CEO of The Wing, in response to complaints from staff regarding the treatment of employees of color.[26]
Personal life
Gelman dated photographer Terry Richardson from 2011 until 2013.[27] In April 2016, she married Genius co-founder Ilan Zechory[28] in Detroit.[29] Their first child was born on September 24, 2019.
She is a childhood friend of Lena Dunham, who has called her the inspiration for the Girls character Marnie. The two also attended Oberlin College together.[2][3]
See also
References
- ^ Rosman, Katherine (June 11, 2020). "Audrey Gelman, the Wing's Co-Founder, Resigns". The New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Hanas, Jim (January 15, 2013). "Meet Audrey Gelman: She's Like Marnie—Only Successful". The New York Observer. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ a b 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 "The Wing, a Chic Women's Club, Is Going Wide". November 11, 2017.
- ^ "Audrey Gelman". SKDKnickerbocker. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ Williams, Alex. "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. "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. 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.
- ^ 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
- "Vanity Fair's Best-Dressed 2014". Vanity Fair.
- Abramovitch, Ingrid. "Stick 'Em Up: Brookyln 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.