Jane Ruth Buckingham (
née Rinzler; born 1968) is an American author and businesswoman who founded the consumer insights firm Trendera.
She is known for writing "The Modern Girl's Guide to Life" book series, which spawned the
television series of the same name. She was convicted in the
2019 college admissions bribery scandal
In 2019, a scandal arose over a criminal conspiracy to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities. The investigation into the conspiracy was code named Operation Varsity Blues. The investigation and rela ...
.
Early career
At the age of 16, Buckingham wrote the book ''Teens Speak Out'', a report from teens on their most intimate thoughts, feelings and hopes for the future. After working in advertising at
BBDO
BBDO is a worldwide advertising agency network, with its headquarters in New York City. The agency originated in 1891 with the George Batten Company, and in 1928, through a merger with Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BDO), the agency became Batten, B ...
New York, FCB/Leber Katz New York and Houston Effler Boston, she started her own youth-focused trend-forecasting firm, Youth Intelligence, in 1996.
Career
Youth Intelligence
Youth Intelligence is a youth-focused consumer insights company that focuses on "Generations X and Y" (i.e. ages 14–39). While running Youth Intelligence, Buckingham published ''The Cassandra Report'', a trend forecasting study used by large companies. The company worked with clients including
Chanel,
Fox Broadcasting
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...
,
MTV,
Levis, and
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
.
In 2003, Buckingham sold Youth Intelligence to the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
based talent and sports agency
Creative Artists Agency
Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...
.
''The Modern Girl's Guide to Life''
Buckingham wrote ''The Modern Girls Guide to Life'' (Regan, 2004), ''The Modern Girl’s Guide to Motherhood'' (Collins, 2006) and ''The Modern Girls Guide to Sticky Situations'' (Collins, 2010). She has addressed subjects including parenting tips in the series, and predictions about the future for businesses in ''What's Next''. The Modern Girls Guide book series was turned into a television series that ran for 36 episodes for the
Style Network in 2003. The show was hosted by Buckingham along with
Eva LaRue
Eva Maria LaRue (; born December 27, 1966) is an American actress and model. She is known for her roles as Maria Santos on ''All My Children'' and Det. Natalia Boa Vista on ''CSI: Miami''.
Early life
LaRue was born in Long Beach, California ...
,
Claudia Jordan
Claudia Angela Jordan is an American talk show host, actress, model, businesswoman and reality television and radio personality. She is known for appearing as a model on the U.S. version of ''Deal or No Deal'' and ''The Price Is Right'', and fo ...
and Jess Zaino.
Trendera
Buckingham left the Intelligence Group in 2009 to start Trendera, a trend forecasting, consulting, research, and multi media company. Buckingham consults companies and individuals to help them reach out to diverse age groups.
Press, film, and television appearances
Buckingham has been the subject of in-depth profiles in ''The Los Angeles Times'',
''The Boston Globe'', ''60 Minutes'', and ''Good Morning America''. She has appeared on numerous programs including, ''The Today Show'' and ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', and ''The View''. Additionally, Buckingham has been a keynote speaker and panelist at events such as ASME, SIMA, and BlogHer., and L2.
Buckingham is currently a contributing editor at ''Glamour'', and ''The Huffington Post'', and makes regular appearances on ''Good Morning America'' and ''The View''.
College admissions scandal conviction
Buckingham was arrested on March 12, 2019, for participation in
a college admissions bribery scandal.
Buckingham, acting without her son's knowledge or consent, donated $50,000 to the college counseling firm Key Worldwide Foundation to arrange for a proctor to take the
ACT on her son's behalf. Buckingham provided the proctor with a sample of her son's writing to emulate and had her son take a practice
ACT in order to have him believe he had actually taken the test.
In April, Buckingham agreed to plead guilty.
On October 23, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge
Indira Talwani
Indira Talwani (born October 6, 1960) is a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Biography
Talwani received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in 1982, from Radcliffe College. She received a Juris Docto ...
sentenced Buckingham to 21 days in prison, a $40,000 fine, and one year of supervised release.
However, the U.S. Attorney's Office sought a sentence of six months in prison, saying Buckingham was "more deeply engaged in the mechanics of the fraud than many of the other parents" in the case. By having a proctor take the test on her son's behalf, they said, she deprived him "of even the opportunity to get any of the answers right on his own."
Personal life
Jane and
Marcus Buckingham
Marcus Wilfrid Buckingham (born 11 January 1966) is an English author, motivational speaker and business consultant based in California.
Early life and education
Buckingham was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and grew up in the village of ...
married in 1996 and divorced in 2017. They have a son, Jack, and a daughter,
Lilia, who is an actress on the
Brat
Brat, Brats, The Brat or similar may refer to:
Term for young people
* Spoiled child
* Military brat
** Military brat (U.S. subculture)
* Trenchard Brat, a nickname for aircraft apprentices in the British Royal Air Force
Films
* ''The Br ...
network.
Political views
In 2019, Buckingham hosted in her home, and later co-hosted, California fundraisers for
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from New York since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as member of the U.S. House of ...
's 2020 exploratory Presidential campaign, and has been a "major donor" to various Democratic political candidates.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckingham, Jane
1968 births
Date of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American marketing people
Marketing women
American people convicted of fraud
American women non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesswomen
Businesspeople from New York City
Writers from New York City
20th-century American businesswomen