Neale Godfrey once wrote that while she was proving herself as one of the first woman executives at Chase Manhattan Bank in 1972, she worked such long hours that sleeping in her office was not uncommon. Balancing her demanding career with the obligations of raising children proved to be a challenge to say the least.
“When I had kids, I was the only working mom in our pristine little suburban community,” she wrote in an article for Forbes. “When I was the one assigned to bake cupcakes, I was outed when the perfect class mom fished the empty Entenmann’s box out of the garbage. (Who knew that my personal touch of sprinkles wouldn’t convince everyone that they were homemade?)”
Eventually, Godfrey found a way to have a meaningful career and a personal life at the same time. Today her work revolves around educating children about money. Her website, www.greenstreetcommons.com, and the smartphone app that goes along with it, are designed to teach children financial skills by means of a video game.
Godfrey will speak at the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday, January 7, at 11:30 a.m. at the Princeton Marriott. Tickets are $50, $70 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.princetonchamber.org or call 609-924-1776.
Godfrey is a contributor to Forbes Magazine and was founder of the First Women’s Bank and the First Children’s Bank. She is a professional speaker and often appears on TV shows as a financial expert.
According to a 1989 interview with People, Godfrey got the idea to write books for children after her four-year-old daughter called her at work to ask her to bring home some money. She asked the girl where she thought the money would come from. “Oh, Mommy, you know,” she replied. “It grows in the vault and then you pick it and bring it home at night.”
That conversation set Godfrey on the path of opening the first ever bank for children, located in FAO Schwarz toy store in New York. The bank had kid-height teller windows and allowed kids to open savings and checking accounts. She since has written 17 books, several digital projects, and various educational materials all for helping kids understand how money works.
