Karen Pritzker
Karen Pritzker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1958 (age 66–67) Oberlin, Ohio, U.S. |
| Education | Northwestern University (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Investor, philanthropist, film producer |
| Spouse |
Michael Vlock (died 2017) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent | Robert Pritzker (father) |
| Relatives | See Pritzker family |
Karen L. Pritzker (born 1958) is an American documentary film producer, investor, and philanthropist. She is a member of the Pritzker family, the granddaughter of A.N. Pritzker and daughter of Robert Pritzker.[1]
Early life and education
[edit]Pritzker was born in Oberlin, Ohio, the daughter of Audrey (née Gilbert) and Robert Pritzker.[2] She has two full siblings: Jennifer N. Pritzker (b. 1950),[3] a retired Lt Colonel in the Illinois State National Guard and founder of the Pritzker Military Library,[4] and Linda Pritzker (b. 1953), an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.[5] Her parents divorced in 1979.[2]
Pritzker graduated with a B.A. from Northwestern University.[1]
Career
[edit]Pritzker worked as an editor at the magazine Working Mother before the family sold it in 1986[2] and has written for various publications including Success, Seventeen, Kirkus Reviews, and Newsday.[6] Pritzker operates a venture fund, LaunchCapital LLC[1][7] with a core focus in the technology, consumer and medical businesses.[8]
In 2012, Pritzker co-founded KPJR Films with James Redford.[9] She has since executive-produced three documentary film features: The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia, Paper Tigers, and Resilience: The Biology of Stress and The Science of Hope.[10]
Pritzker, alongside her husband, Michael Vlock, and Elon Boms, founded LaunchCapital in 2008, a seed-stage investment firm.[11]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia | Executive Producer | Sundance Film selection in 2012 and winner of a 2013 Parent’s Choice Award [12] |
| 2015 | Paper Tigers | Executive Producer | Seattle International Film Festival selection in 2015[13] |
| 2016 | Resilience | Executive Producer | Shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016[14] |
Philanthropy
[edit]Karen Pritzker serves as president and director of The Seedlings Foundation. The Seedlings Foundation, founded in 2002, has awarded millions of dollars in grants, catalyzing advancements in medical research, social services, job retraining for adults, affordable housing, and online news sites dedicated to local, factual, ad-free reporting.[15] Pritzker and her husband donated $20 million to the Yale University School of Medicine.[1] (including $3 million to endow a professorship);[1][16] $5 million to Teach for America; $1.5 million to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, in honor of her father who had Parkinson's disease.[17][18] In 2007, Pritzker donated $1 million to build a new visitor center at the Treblinka concentration camp.[19] Karen also funded a new website named Truth in Advertising (TinA), tina.org, that provides information about incidents of false advertising.[20] She also serves on the board of directors of Grameen America, a nonprofit that offers low-cost microloans to women below the poverty line, as well as Grameen PrimaCare, which provides affordable health care for immigrant women.[21]
The My Hero Project
[edit]Pritzker co-founded The My Hero Project[22] with Rita Stern Milch and Jeanne Meyers in 1995.[23] The purpose of the effort is to "celebrate the best of humanity and empowers young people to realize their own potential to effect positive change in the world".[23]
Personal life
[edit]She was married to Daniel Mark Schwartz with whom she had 2 daughters, Allison and Dana. She was married to Michael Vlock with which she had 2 more children.[1] Her husband died in September 2017.[24] She lives in Branford, Connecticut.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Forbes: The World's Billionaires - Karen Pritzker September 2020
- ^ a b c CNN Money: "THE PRITZKERS UNVEILING A PRIVATE FAMILY" By Ford S. Worthy April 25, 1988
- ^ Geidner, Chris (August 23, 2013). "Billionaire Backer Of Open Transgender Military Service Comes Out As Transgender". BuzzFeed. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
- ^ Pritzker Military Library website: "Colonel (IL) J. N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired)" Archived 2013-04-17 at the Wayback Machine retrieved December 21, 2012
- ^ van Gelder, Sarah. "How an American lama finds joy during turbulent times". Retrieved 11 February 2014.
- ^ The Big Picture documentary website: The Team - Karen Pritzker, Executive Producer retrieved July 24, 2013
- ^ Launch Capital website: "About US" Archived 2015-07-29 at the Wayback Machine retrieved July 24, 2013
- ^ Launch Capital website: Our Philosophy Archived 2015-07-28 at the Wayback Machine retrieved July 24, 2013
- ^ "About KPJR Films". KPJR Films. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ "Our Films". KPJR Films. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ "Elon Boms". DeviceTalks Boston. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ^ "The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia". KPJR Films. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ "Paper Tigers". KPJR Films. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ "Resilience". KPJR Films. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ "Seedlings Foundation". Seedlings Foundation. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ Medicine@Yale Bulletin: "Giving back - Top-notch surgery at Yale inspires a major gift to the School of Medicine"
- ^ Team, Weather Forecast. "Breaking News: San Diego Braces for an Unusual Storm System That Could Disrupt Travel and Outdoor Plans – BranFord News". Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ^ "The Robert A. Pritzker Prize for Leadership in Parkinson's Research | Parkinson's Disease". www.michaeljfox.org. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ^ Jewish Weekly: "Foundation pledges money to Treblinka" November 30, 2007.
- ^ Connecticut news: "A New Connecticut-Based Website Works to Uncover False Advertising" By Gregory B. Hladky April 3, 2013
- ^ "Board of Directors". Grameen America. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ Harris, Melissa; Wernau, Julie (December 18, 2011). "Fortune's Fate". Chicago Tribune. pp. 1, 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Api Podder (November 18, 2016). "Goody Awards to honor The MY HERO Project Director Jeanne Meyers Saturday". My Social Good News. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
- ^ "Michael Vlock". New Haven Independent. October 1, 2017.
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