Ashley Biden is a social worker, activist, philanthropist, and fashion designer and President Joe Biden’s family favorite. She can be described as a determined go-getter, with a yearning to bring about important social changes. The 39-year-old lets her work to do the talking and diligently avoids the spotlight. Having growing up in a political atmosphere she is very passionate about public service and helping people. Ashley Biden is made of many endearing qualities and we have here a peek into them:
All about young Ashley:
Ashley Blazer Biden was born on June 8, 1981, in Wilmington, Delaware, to Joe and Jill Biden. She is the only child from Joe Biden’s second marriage to Jill. At the time of Ashley’s birth, her father, Joe Biden, served as a United States senator from Delaware, and her mother worked as an educator. Joe Biden lost his infant daughter Naomi Biden in a brutal car accident that proved fatal for his first wife, Hunter Biden, and Beau Biden’s mother. Ashley is incredibly close to her half-brothers and was raised Catholic. Ashley was quite the spirited child at the private Wilmington Friends School. Following her father’s and brother’s steps, Ashley attended Archmere Academy, a Catholic, Norbertine college preparatory school known for its rigorous academic program. In recent years, Archmere has won multiple DIAA championships, such as volleyball and rugby; Ashley showed a keen interest in sports and was a part of Archmere’s lacrosse and field hockey teams. She later went on to pursue her Bachelor of Arts degree in cultural anthropology from Tulane University.
Her bond with Hunter and Beau:
Elle published Joe Biden’s interview where he threw light on the sibling bond between Ashley and her brothers, “There’s no one you’re closer to than your siblings. In Ashley’s case, this was especially true.” Jill echoed that sentiment about Hunter and Beau. “From the minute she was born, her brothers looked after her. And, she always looked up to them. Wherever they went, she wanted to go, and they took her.” Being part of a tight-knit unit is a blessing, and the loss of a loved one is a burden that’s too hard to take.
The Biden siblings met with one such tragic loss in 2015 when Beau Biden succumbed to a brain tumor. According to Today, Ashley Biden took Beau for his chemotherapy treatments every other week. They got a lot of quality time together, which she called a “tragic privilege.” Ashley paid homage to her lawyer brother, an officer in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, with the launch of her brand, Livelihood.
Ashley, an activist, entrepreneur, and lifelong public servant:
Early on it was evident that Ashley would be an advocate for social justice. Barely in fourth grade, she realized her favorite lip gloss company, Bonne Bell, tested products on animals. Ashley aired her concerns through a letter campaign asking them to change their policy on animal testing. She displayed the same gusto with dolphin conservation around the same time after watching voiceless animals captured in tuna nets. This desire to make a difference took a professional turn after she completed college. While figuring out her plans, Ashley also worked at a local pizza shop in her hometown, Wilmington, for a few months before starting her career in social work.
In 2010, she earned her master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. Her journey began with criminal justice reform at the Delaware Center for Justice. She was a social worker for 15 years at the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families. After losing her brother Beau to cancer, Ashley launched the American-made clothing brand Livelihood. “Livelihood is specifically about income inequality,” Ashley told Elle ahead of its launch. “And racial inequality and income inequality are directly related.” Her zest for social justice and being a social worker is the crux of her personality. She also shared this with Glamour in 2017, “The passion started at a very young age…My dad is a lifelong public servant; my mom was a public-school teacher—it’s in my DNA.”
Ashley loves to keep a low profile:
It wouldn’t be wrong to say Ashley Biden lets her work do all the talking. Ashley enjoys being a private person, despite growing a well-known political family. Her Instagram account is kept private; she doesn’t make headlines attending every social event, but she goes where her presence matters and contributes. She accompanied her father on the campaign trail and left a great impression at the Women Rule 2014 Summit in Washington, D.C. Biden confessed, “It’s an honor to be here amongst a room full of women who rule. There is actually a really good energy and I actually feel comfortable, and in these types of things I normally don’t.” Her presence on Twitter is somewhat underwhelming, with only 11 tweets. Her bio describes her as a social worker, activist, philanthropist, and fashion designer. She usually retweets the POTUS’s posts barring the one time she urged America to mask up and get vaccinated.
Her love for animal rights and public service
Not every fourth grader cares about animals, and even if they do, they don’t always voice their opinions and ring about a change. That’s where Ashley Biden showed she is different from her peers. Barely ten years of age and studying in elementary school, she wrote to cosmetics company Bonne Bell to change their methods of animal testing. As mentioned above, she took great efforts in the matter of dolphin conservation. A young, determined Ashley, even appeared before members of the United States Congress to lobby for the legislation. As per Irish Central, it entailed to ban fishing for tuna by tracking dolphins as the purse seine nets would surround the tuna and the dolphins, resulting in the death of thousands of dolphins as by-catch. Her father gave her his full support and worked closely with Congresswoman Barbara Boxer to write and pass the 1990 Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act.
As a result, in 1990, Heinz became the first company to stop buying tuna from boats that maimed dolphins and Joe Biden, who was then Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee credited his 9-year-old daughter for the same. In a recent interview with Marie Claire, Ashley, said, “I became obsessed with the plight of dolphins getting stuck in tuna nets. My dad connected me with Congressman Barbara Boxer, who I nicknamed the ‘dolphin lady,’ and she got me onto the floor to help lobby Republican members of Congress for a law to protect dolphins.”
Today, her fashion brand Livelihood makes hoodies and other items to raise money for income inequality programs. Marie Claire shared an excerpt from her interview with Delaware Today, where Ashley spoke on why she got into the business. She said, “It doesn’t matter if it’s overcoming incarceration and poor choices—I’ve made plenty, too—or grappling with a sibling’s death, you can move forward and be better,” she says. “Getting people out of the justice system, or simply getting them the services they need, is about hope and possibilities. I am in my job because our system is malfunctioning. Mass incarceration isn’t the answer.”
Married life:
Ashley Biden married Howard Krein in 2012. She met him through Beau Biden in 2010, and the couple planned to live less than an hour away from Beau in Philadelphia. Krein specialized in facial plastics and was born to Jewish parents. Krein is a graduate of Rutgers University and Thomas Jefferson Medical College. After a wedding ceremony at the St. Joseph’s on the Brandywine in Greenville, Delaware where she was baptized, the newlyweds enjoyed a reception held at the Biden residence.
Howard Krein is a noted plastic surgeon and the chief medical officer of StartUp Health, a venture capital firm. He is also a professor of otolaryngology and very liked by the inseparable Biden clan. Joe Biden gave the nod to Krein, saying, “This is the right guy. And he’s getting a helluva woman.” Krein and Ashley have no kids, and both are private people with a nearly inactive social media presence.
No one like my dad, Joe Biden:
If anyone can ask Ashley to share the spotlight, it is her father, Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States. She certainly wouldn’t do it for anyone else. Where her dad is concerned, Ashley comes in total support. From accompanying him through his political career to introducing Joe Biden during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention, she unabashedly praised her father and truly believed in him. Ashley said, “He’ll be rock steady” and “He’ll love you with all of his heart.” At the Wisconsin Women for Biden event, she again spoke openly about the great man she thinks he is. “I’m here today because I adore my father, but I also deeply believe he has the character and the vision to lead this country. When I say I’m ready for a Biden presidency, it’s not just because I think my dad is the best person. With my dad as President, he will help us solve some of the great challenges of our generation… And he has the empathy and fortitude to help us address the racial and economic disparities that undermine all communities…Make no mistake, women will decide this election. Women of color will decide this election.”
Having said that, Ashley has also made it clear while Joe Biden has her unending support, she will not take up a job in his administration like Ivanka Trump. She won’t, however, shy away from using this robust platform. The Sun shared, “I do hope to bring awareness and education to some topics, subjects that are really important.” On a more personal note, Ashley Biden said the family is the most important thing to her father, and said, “We have a rule, still today, that no matter where Dad is, no matter what meeting he’s in, if one of the kids’ call, you have to get him out,” reports CNN.
Ashley Biden is all of us right now
#BidenHarris2020 pic.twitter.com/VI3utcbAxs
— Mariana Perez (@MrsMarianaPerez) November 8, 2020
She dances like no one is watching:
Ashley may sound like a serious person, but the girl has her share of fun. And what a stage she chose! It is not every day your father (aka favorite person on the planet) becomes the President of the United States, and when he does, you need to do the happy dance on the world stage! After her father’s first speech as the president-elect, people on Twitter did what they do best- notice what others miss. Her happy dance not only got people on her side but also turned her into a ‘mood’ and earned her the moniker ‘the fun Biden. One user even dubbed Ashley the Pipa Middleton of the U.S., while another, Andrea @aje1824 tweeted, “Is Ashley Biden the one dancing up a storm on the stage?? Whoever it is, she is my soul sister. #bidenharis2020.” @MrsMarianaPerez posted, ‘Ashley Biden is all of us right now.’
Ashley Biden is undoubtedly a shining example of the infallible Biden upbringing with solid family values, a zest to do good and bring about change. The world awaits a chance to do a happy dance for her achievements someday, complete with leopard masks and LBD.
