Silda Wall Spitzer

Silda Wall Spitzer
Silda Wall Spitzer in Rochester, 2006
First Lady of New York
In office January 1, 2007 – March 17, 2008
Governor	Eliot Spitzer
Preceded by	Libby Pataki
Succeeded by	Michelle Paige Paterson
Personal details
Born	Silda Alice Wall December 30, 1957 Chapel Hill, North Carolina[1]
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Eliot Spitzer (m. 1987–2013)
Children	3
Residence	Manhattan, New York
Alma mater	Meredith College (B.A.)(Ph.D.) Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Occupation	Lawyer Private Equity Entrepreneur
Religion	Southern Baptist

Silda Alice Wall^[2] (born December 30, 1957) is an American businesswoman, lawyer, and former First Lady of New York State. According to a Vogue article, she has worked in the private, nonprofit and public sectors as she has sought to advance the New York economy and promote progress on green/sustainability issues, youth service/education, and human rights and women's financial and other empowerment.^[3] Currently, she is Director & Principal at NewWorld Capital Group, a private equity firm investing in environmental opportunities, including energy efficiency, clean energy, water, waste-to-value and environmental products/services.^[4] She is also Co-Founder and CEO of woman-owned New York States of Mind LLC, a digital magazine and marketplace that creates a new intellectual and economic platform for the people, places, products and ideas in New York State.^[5]

She is the ex-wife of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and was the First Lady of New York State from January 2007 until March 2008.

Early life

Wall Spitzer grew up in Concord, North Carolina.^[6] Her father, Robert, was a hospital administrator, and her mother, Trilby, was a homemaker. She was raised as a Southern Baptist.^[7][8] Wall Spitzer graduated in 1980 with a B.A., summa cum laude, from Meredith College, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2011.^[9] She received a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1984.

Personal life

She married Eliot Spitzer on October 17, 1987^[10] and they have three daughters: Elyssa, Sarabeth, and Jenna.^[11] At the close of 2013 Wall Spitzer and her husband announced the end of their marriage.^[12][13]

Career

Currently, she is Director & Principal at NewWorld Capital Group, a private equity firm investing in growth equity and infrastructure project finance environmental opportunities, including energy efficiency, clean energy, water, waste-to-value and environmental products/services. She is also Co-Founder and CEO of woman-owned New York States of Mind LLC, a digital magazine and marketplace that creates a new intellectual and economic platform for the people, places, products and ideas in New York State.

She began her legal career with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, specializing in mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance. She then joined The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. as a member of its International Legal Group. She is a founding co-chair of Project Cicero, the annual New York City book drive which builds classroom libraries in under-resourced schools. She served on the NY Blue Ribbon Commission on Youth Leadership as well as the board of the Children's Museum of Manhattan from 1995 until January 1999, where she was a member of its executive committee and chaired its program committee.

In 1996, she co-founded Children for Children, a not-for-profit organization, to engage children from an early age in volunteering and service—helping them develop leadership, critical thinking, problem-solving and social/emotional skillsets to become civically, community and philanthropically involved adults promoting community involvement and civic engagement. She served as its President and Chair until 2007. CFC has become the youth service division of Points of Light, and is now called generationOn.

As the wife of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, she was the First Lady of New York State from January 2007 until March 2008. From 2008-2011, she was Managing Director at Metropolitan Capital Advisors, a woman-owned hedge fund.^[14]

Among her not-for-profit activities, she serves as Vice-Chair of Home Urban Green Council, is on the Ceres President's Council and the Sustainable Endowment Institute's Advisory Board. She served on the Boards of Points of Light and generationOn until 2015. She is also a Board member of her alma mater Meredith College, and of the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior, as well as an Honorary Trustee of No Bully.

References

1. "Eliot Spitzer, Wife Discuss Run For Governor On 'News Forum' (9/17/06)", WNBC, September 17, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
2. "New York State Unified Court System-eCourts-Attorney Detail". NYCOURTS.GOV. New York State Office of Court Administration. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
3. Johnson, Rebecca (March 1, 2009). "The Survivor: Silda Spitzer". Vogue (Condé Nast). Retrieved 24 April 2015.
4. "BUYOUTS-Ex-NY State 1st Lady on board, private equity shop targets $300M". Reuters. July 11, 2012.
5. Grynbaum, Michael M. (July 16, 2013). "As Spitzer Pursues a Comeback, His Wife Chooses to Stay Offstage". The New York Times.
6. Konigsberg, Eric (November 10, 2006). "Her Next Job: First Lady of New York". N.Y. / Region (The New York Times). Retrieved 2008-03-10.
7. "Silda Wall Spitzer's Friend: Take the Kids and Run". FoxNews.com. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
8. Chan, Sewell (12 March 2007). "Eliot Spitzer's 'Good Baptist Wife'". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
9. http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/05/03/2048260/meredith-college-graduates-477.html
10. Silda Wall and Eliot Spitzer Marriage Profile
11. Callahan, Maureen. "Silda Spitzer still with husband Eliot five years after ‘Luv Guv’ scandal". New York Post.
12. "Eliot Spitzer and his wife announce the end of their marriage". CNN. December 24, 2013.
13. "Former NY gov Eliot Spitzer announces end of his marriage". Fox News. December 25, 2013.
14. "Silda Wall Spitzer Jumps to a Hedge Fund". The New York Times. November 24, 2008.

External links

• Silda Wall Spitzer bio - NewWorld Capital Group