Neale Sheila Godfrey (born March 4, 1951) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. Her books deal with money, life skills, and value issues. One of them, ''Money Doesn't Grow on Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children'', was a ''New York Times'' #1 Best Seller. She is currently Executive in Residence at the

Columbia Graduate School of Business Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one of the oldest busi ...

and is a former contributor at

Forbes.com ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

Early life and education

Neale grew up in

West Caldwell West Caldwell is a township located in the West Essex area in northwestern Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is located approximately west of Manhattan and northwest of Newark. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's pop ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and graduated from

James Caldwell High School James Caldwell High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in West Caldwell, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Caldwell-We ...

in 1969. She then obtained a B.S., cum laude, from The School of International Service at 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 ...

Career

Neale began her career with

Chase Manhattan Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fina ...

in 1972, joining as one of the first female executives and later became president of The First Women's Bank and founder of The First Children's Bank in

F.A.O. Schwarz FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and store. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, interactive experiences, brand integrations, and games. FAO Schwarz claims to be the oldest toy store in the United States, ...

. In 1989, Neale formed her own company, Children's Financial Network, Inc., with a mission to educate children and their parents about money. Over the years, Neale has served as a national spokesperson for such companies as

Aetna Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

Fidelity Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of ''fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word ''fidēlis'', meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London f ...

Nuveen Nuveen is an American asset manager and wholly owned subsidiary of financial planning firm TIAA, itself known for its legacy focus on managing money for not-for-profit institutions such as universities and their employees. As a consequence of int ...

. She has also appeared as a financial expert on programs such as ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

,'' ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

,'' ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'', and ''

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

'', as well as in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

special, ''Your Money, Your Children, Your Life.'' Neale is also a former nationally syndicated columnist for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. Neale has served on the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and governor's Task Forces as well as on the board of directors of

New York Board of Trade The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT, renamed ICE Futures US in September, 2007), is a physical commodity futures exchange located in New York City. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). History It originated in 1 ...

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

University of Charleston The University of Charleston (UC) is a private non-profit university with its main campus in Charleston, West Virginia. The university also has a location in Beckley, West Virginia, known as UC-Beckley. History The school was founded in 1888 as ...

, Morris County Chamber of Commerce,

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...

, and the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).

Books and programs

Neale's most widely read books are ''"Money Doesn't Grow on Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children,"'' that reached #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list, and ''"Neale S. Godfrey's Ultimate Kids' Money Book."'' Other notable titles include ''Mom, Inc.: Taking Your Work Skills Home'', ''A Penny Saved: Teaching Your Children the Values and Life Skills They Will Need to Live in the Real World'', and ''Money Still Doesn't Grow on Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Teenagers and Young Adults.'' Through Neale's guidance, Children's Financial Network produced a national program starting in 2007 entitled ''LIFE, Inc: The Ultimate Career Guide for Young People''. This program, which ran through 2012, served over one million middle school and high school students. The LIFE, Inc. video and program received the Mercury Communications Award. One of her books, ''ECO-Effect: The Greening of Money'', combines economics and ecology to show adults and children how they can save money while saving the environment. Neale was one of the first to develop money curricula for children and young adults,

pre-K Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool o ...

through high school, entitled ''The One and Only Common Sense/Cents Series'' as well as a

CD ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both compu ...

called ''MoneyTown.'' The curriculum was implemented in over 5,000 classrooms across 48 states. She has also released three

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

video gaming apps, two hitting #1 in the Educational Gaming ''GreenStreets: Unleash The Loot!'' and ''GreenStreets: Shmootz Happens!'' Her latest app, ''GreenStreets: Heifer International,'' is a collaboration with

Heifer International Heifer International (also known as Heifer Project International) is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development. Heifer International distributes animals, along wit ...

that teaches kids and parents how to connect the virtual and real worlds. Currently, Neale serves on New Jersey's State Employment and Training Commission Council on Gender Parity in Labor and Education as well as New Jersey's Science and Technology Workforce Subcommittee. She serves on the board of advisors of DriveWealth, a mobile and global full carrying broker dealer for retail investors, providing a low-cost, easy-to-use investing platform to individuals worldwide. Neale is also a faculty member of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), and VWise (Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship), operated by the

Institute For Veterans and Military Families The Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) is an interdisciplinary research institution that informs and advances the policy, economic and wellness concerns of the America’s veterans and families. It is housed in the #National Vete ...

at the

Whitman School of Management The Martin J. Whitman School of Management is the business school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. Named after Martin J. Whitman, an alumnus and benefactor of the school, the school was established in 1919. The Whitman School offers ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, which offers training to post-

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

disabled veterans.

Awards

In 2009, Neale was recognized as one of New Jersey's “50 Best Women in Business,” and that same year, she was National Winner of w2wlink's Ascendancy Awards for Business Women. Neale has also been honored with awards such as “Woman of the Year,” “Banker of the Year,” “Child Advocate of the Year,” and the Femme Award from the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. In 2011, she was awarded Garden State Woman of the Year. She was the recipient of

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...

’s Outstanding Community Service Award in 2012 and received the 2013 Women of Influence Award from the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey. Also in 2013, Neale graduated from The National Security Seminar at the U.S. Army War College. More recently, Neale earned the

Muriel Siebert Muriel Faye Siebert (September 12, 1928 – August 24, 2013) was an American businesswoman who was the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, and the first woman to head one of the NYSE's member firms. She joined the 1,365 mal ...

Lifetime Achievement Award for her trailblazing work on financial literacy and achieved the National Honoree designation from WomenInBusiness.org.

Selected bibliography

* Godfrey, Neale, Edwards, Carolina, Richards, Tad (1989). ''Money Doesn't Grow on Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children''. Atria Books. * Godfrey, Neale, Richards, Tad (1995). ''Penny Saved: Teaching Your Children the Values and Life Skills They Will Need to Live in the Real World''.

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

. * Godfrey, Neale, Richards, Tad (1997). ''Making Change: A Woman's Guide to Designing Her Financial Future''.

. * Godfrey, Neale, Randy Verougstraete (1998). ''Neale S. Godfrey's Ultimate Kids' Money Book''. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. * Godfrey, Neale S., Richards, Tad (2000). ''Mom, Inc.: Taking Your Work Skills Home''. Fireside. * Godfrey, Neale, Richards, Tad (2004). ''Money Still Doesn't Grow on Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Teenagers and Young Adults''.

Rodale Books The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded into ...

. * Godfrey, Neale S. (2009). ''Eco Effect - The Greening of Money. Children's Financial Network''.

References

External links

Neale Godfrey - Money for Life

Children's Financial Network

Moolah-la

Life INC.

Moms on the Move
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Neale 1951 births American women writers James Caldwell High School alumni Living people People from West Caldwell, New Jersey Writers from New Jersey American finance and investment writers American financial businesspeople American University alumni Businesspeople from New Jersey 21st-century American women