Neale Godfrey

Neale Sheila Godfrey (born March 4, 1951) is an American author. 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 and is a former contributor at Forbes.com.

Early life and education Neale grew up in West Caldwell, New Jersey and graduated from James Caldwell High School in 1969. She then obtained a B.S., cum laude, from The School of International Service at the American University.

Career Neale began her career with Chase Manhattan Bank in 1972, joining as one of the first female executives and later became president of The First Women's Bank 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, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Fidelity, Nuveen. Good Morning America, The Today Show, and CNN,

Neale has served on the White House and governor's Task Forces as well as on the board of directors of New York Board of Trade, UNICEF, University of Charleston, Morris County Chamber of Commerce, UN Women, and the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). that reached #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list, 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.

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, operated by the Institute For Veterans and Military Families at the Whitman School of Management of Syracuse University, which offers training to post-9/11 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. In 2011, she was awarded Garden State Woman of the Year. She was the recipient of United Negro College Fund’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 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. Godfrey, Neale, Richards, Tad (1997). Making Change: A Woman's Guide to Designing Her Financial Future. Simon & Schuster. 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. Godfrey, Neale S. (2009). Eco Effect - The Greening of Money. Children's Financial Network.