Michael W. Kempner (born January 31, 1958) is an American businessman. He is the founder and CEO of MikeWorldWide, a public relations firm headquartered in New York, New York. Kempner is also known for his political contributions and fundraising for the Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Kempner was born on January 31, 1958 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois. He graduated from

American University School of Public Affairs The American University School of Public Affairs (SPA) is an institution of higher education and research located in Washington, D.C. that grants academic degrees in political science, public administration, public policy, and justice, law and ...

, where he received a Bachelor of Science in 1981. In 2013, he received an Alumni Achievement Award from the university. In May 2018, he gave the commencement address to the university's School of Communications and was given an honorary PhD degree.

Career

Kempner founded MWW Group in 1986. He is also a founding board member of ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ: CNOB). In 2012, he received the International Business Awards' Public Relations Executive of the Year, the 2012 American Business Awards' PR Executive of the Year, and the 2012 PR News Awards' Professional of the Year. Kempner was presented The Gay And Lesbian Victory Fund's 2014 Corporate Leadership Award on behalf of MikeWorldWide. Kempner became a member of the U.S. Agency for Global Media in December 2014. In March 2015, Kempner received ''

PRWeek ''PRWeek'' is a trade magazine for the public relations industry. The original UK edition was the brainchild of the late Geoffrey Lace who at the time worked for Haymarket. After failing to interest Haymarket in his idea he left to launch it on ...

's'' PR Pro of the Year award. Kempner negotiated a buyout from Interpublic Group of Companies and re-branded the company as MikeWorldWide. Kempner serves on the board of trustees of the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

School of Communications. He formerly served on the International Board of

Goodwill Industries Goodwill Industries International Inc., often shortened in speech and writing to Goodwill (stylized as goodwill), is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides job training, employment placement services, and other community-bas ...

and the board for the

Coalition for the Homeless A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

in NYC. In 2016, Kempner was recognized on ''

PolitickerNJ The Politicker Network, or Politicker.com, was a national network of fifty state-based political websites operated by the ''New York Observer''. Origins The network had its origins in journalist Ben Smith's ''New York Observer'' blog, "''The Poli ...

s Power List. Kempner has been recognized by the NJBIZ Power 100 List every year from 2015 to 2021. In 2017, he was named chairman of the board of directors of the

Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Manhattan Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit organization that represents and supports local businesses across the borough of Manhattan in New York City. History The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce was established in July 1920 as the Yorkville Cha ...

. He is also a member of the Fulbright-Canada Scholarship Board. He received a NJBIZ ICON Award in 2018. In 2020, Kempner was elected to the PR Council Board of Directors''.'' In 2020, Kempner received the Observer award and was named to the PRWeek Hall of Fame.

Political activity

Kempner is a government appointee and political fundraiser. He was one of Hillary Clinton's National Finance co-chairs and a lead fundraiser for her 2008 bid for the U.S. presidency. He later took up a "significant fundraising role" for President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. Kempner was the Deputy Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee and a member of the Obama for President National Finance Committee. He is a member of the DNC National Finance Committee, the New Jersey Finance Chair for the DNC, and a member of the New Jersey Government Advisory Council on Volunteerism and Community Service. In 2010, Kempner hosted a $30,400/plate Democratic Party fundraising dinner attended by President Obama at his home in Cresskill, New Jersey. In December 2010, President Obama appointed Kempner a member of the White House Council for Community Solutions, a council that works to "reengage disenfranchised youth." In September 2012, he was listed by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as one of the top "bundlers" for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, having raised $3 million in 2011 and through May 2012. In 2013, Kempner donated $50,000 to Organizing for Action. In January 2014, President Obama nominated Kempner to the

Broadcasting Board of Governors The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), is an independent agency of the United States government that broadcasts news and information. It describes its mission, "vital to US nation ...

, which oversees federally controlled outlets that operate overseas. Kempner took office in December of that year. Kempner is on the board of directors for three US Agency for Global Media networks:

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

(RFE/RL);

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a United States government-funded private non-profit news service that broadcasts radio programs and publishes online news, information, and commentary for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editoriall ...

(RFA); and the

Middle East Broadcasting Networks The Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) is a U.S.-government-funded American Arabic-language non-profit media organization broadcasting news and information across the Middle East and North Africa region. MBN comprises two television networks ...

(MBN).

Personal life

Kempner is married to Jacqueline Steinberg-Kempner.

References

External links