Ted Gonder (born January 4, 1990) is an American entrepreneur and the co-founding CEO of
Moneythink, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building the financial capability of young adults through technology-enhanced peer mentorship. Until July 2015, he was also a member of the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans.
Early years and education
After seeing
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
's film
An Inconvenient Truth
''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film features a slide show that, by Gore's own e ...
and attending the 2006
Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation
Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) is an organization dedicated "to inspiring and developing our global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service, and innovation."
History
Founded in 1958 by American actor Hu ...
Seminar, Gonder launched Project Cooldown, a nonprofit that brought climate change awareness campaigns to high schools across his native California. In 2007,
The Climate Project
The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cli ...
, an organization founded by Gore, appointed Gonder as a student advisor.
Gonder earned a BA in Geography from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
. As a student at the university, he co-founded Moneythink as a service learning club. Gonder also founded the University of Chicago Entrepreneurship Society (now called Edge UChicago).
Career
In 2008, Gonder, Shashin Chokshi, David Chen, and
Greg Nance
Greg Nance (born September 29, 1988) is an American entrepreneur, mountaineer, and ultramarathon runner. Nance is the co-founder and Board Chairman of Moneythink, the founder and CEO of Dyad Mentorship, an Advisory Board Member at the Chicago Pr ...
established the “American Investment Fellows” club at the University of Chicago based on Nance’s idea to send students from the university’s investment club into local high schools to teach workshops. After the success of a pilot program at the South Shore School of Leadership, the initiative began to spread to campuses across the country. In 2009, the organization was officially rebranded as Moneythink, at which point Morgan Hartley joined as the organization’s fifth co-founder.
In 2011, Gonder interned at the
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (Kauffman Foundation) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, private foundation based in Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded in 1966 by Ewing Marion Kauffman, who had previously founded the drug company M ...
, where he researched the relationship between government and startups in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. After completing his assignment in Chile and returning to the U.S. later that year, he decided to pursue Moneythink as a full-time venture.
In 2012, Gonder spoke on behalf of Moneythink when it was named a White House Champion of Change, and declared that the organization’s goal was to make youth financial capability a social norm in the U.S. by 2030. He also became the organization’s first executive director.
Honors and awards
* In 2015, Gonder was named to
Forbes
''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 r ...
' “30 Under 30 in Finance”. He was the youngest person on the Finance list.
* In 2014, Gonder was named a Bluhm-Helfand Social Innovation Fellow by Chicago Ideas Week.
* In 2014, Gonder was named to
Crain's Chicago Business
''Crain's Chicago Business'' is a weekly business newspaper in Chicago, IL. It is owned by Detroit-based Crain Communications, a privately held publishing company with more than 30 magazines, including ''Advertising Age'', ''Modern Healthcare'' ...
's "Twenty in their 20s" list.
* In 2013, Gonder was awarded the Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs award by
The Hitachi Foundation.
* In 2013, Gonder was named a
New Leaders Council New Leaders Council (NLC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States that works to recruit, train and promote young progressive leaders ranging from elected officials and civically-engaged leaders in business and industry.
NLC's m ...
Chicago Fellow.
* In 2013, Gonder was named an Emerging Leader by TEDxMidwest.
* In 2012, Gonder was named a White House Champion of Change.
* In 2012, Gonder became a Kairos Society K50 entrepreneur.
* In 2011, Gonder became a StartingBloc fellow.
* In 2011, Gonder was selected as an Opportunity Scholar at the first annual Opportunity Nation Summit.
* In 2010, Gonder was awarded a
Jefferson Award for Public Service
The Jefferson Awards Foundation was created in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service. The Jefferson Awards are given at both national and local levels. Local winners are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation ...
for Outstanding National or Global Service by a Young American Twenty-Five Years or Under.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonder, Ted
University of Chicago alumni
1990 births
Living people
American nonprofit executives
People from La Crescenta-Montrose, California