Why Corporate America Needs Obies

Melissa Donohue ’87, EdD, will be discussing how to bring the Oberlin experience and point of view into the corporate world … and why that is so needed and appreciated.

Donohue is a financial education specialist, and the founder and president of Financial Nutrition, Inc., an educational organization focused on women’s and girls’ financial literacy and economic empowerment. She is the author of the book Financial Nutrition for Young Women: How (and Why) to Teach Girls About Money,” a 2018 recipient of the Independent Publisher Book Award. Donohue has done extensive research and writing on women’s financial literacy

She is a financial education expert with extensive experience in curriculum design, research, and teaching across several multimedia formats including online, text, and classroom. She is a frequent speaker and writer on all aspects of financial literacy, wealth education, and economic empowerment. 

She was formerly head of Family Wealth Education at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, where she developed the firm’s Family Wealth Education program, the winner of the 2017 MMI/Barron’s Industry Award for Investor Education. In this role, she worked to empower all generations of ultra-high net worth families through a holistic process of wealth education.

Donohue has a master’s degree from Columbia University and a doctorate  in education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is involved in a variety of educational initiatives including serving on the board of CISV-New York, a global organization focused on youth multicultural learning. She was selected to be a founding member of the Columbia University Alumnae Leadership Group and is on the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of the School of International & Public Affairs at Columbia University.

She is a class president and class agent at Oberlin College.