Ashley Biden: Who is Joe Biden’s Daughter?
Ashley Blazer Biden is the youngest daughter of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. A graduate of Tulane University and the University of Pennsylvania, the 39-year-old has spent her life as an advocate, starting from when she was a young girl, as reported in Elle. The only child of the former vice president and his current wife, Jill, Biden nonetheless shared a close relationship with her brothers, the late Beau Biden and Hunter Biden.
“From the minute she was born, her brothers looked after her,” her mom told DelawareToday. “And, she always looked up to them. Wherever they went, she wanted to go, and they took her.”
That bond is what drove the youngest Biden child to pursue a career in criminal justice reform with a focus on kids, a passion of her late brother.
Her closeness with her oldest brother also led her to meet her husband, Dr. Howard Krein, to whom she’s been married for eight years.
She Created A Clothing Brand To Help The Community
Combining her love for helping those in need with fashion, Biden created Livelihood, an apparel brand that focused mainly on hoodies to help out the ‘hood. According to Marie Claire, Biden founded the company after her brother’s death in order to help facilitate his reform initiatives.
She partnered with GILT to give money back to the communities of Delaware and Washington, D.C., focusing on aiding those most vulnerable to mass incarceration through education initiatives, economic assistance, and help with reintegration into society for people who have spent time in jail.
The American-made clothing company is currently undergoing a rebrand. A message from Biden on the now-defunct Livelihood website stated that her first collection raised $30,000 for community initiatives and described an ongoing process to secure more funding for a second set of clothing. She also promised 10 percent of all sales would go toward “community development funds in identified communities in need.”
Biden Has Been Advocating For Change Her Whole Life
Even as a child, Biden shaped some of her father’s policies. She spoke to DelawareToday about her activism, which started when she was 8 or 9 years old, she said. Biden told the publication that she would talk with her father when he came home from work, which was how she first heard about dolphins getting caught in tuna fishing nets.
She then explained how she went to him, armed with “research and posters,” to convince her father to “save the dolphins.” Her campaign worked. Her father and Sen. Barbara Boxer drafted the 1990 Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, for which a young Biden lobbied Congress. The legislation passed successfully.
In 2012, she became an associate director at the Delaware Center for Justice and would become the executive director just two years later. After graduating college, she worked as a social worker for 15 years, trying to mitigate violent crime and focused on creating role models to help break the cycles of poverty and violence.
“We need to change the way kids think if we expect them to change their behavior, because what they’re seeing out there isn’t the American Dream. It’s discrimination, welfare, life on the edge,” Biden explained. “If there is no role model, who is helping to change the world they see?”
She Is Helping Her Father On The Campaign Trail
Most recently, she took that activism to help her father campaign for president. While she hadn’t been active in the primary season, she has since begun speaking on his behalf virtually, as seen at the Democratic National Convention.
In early August, she hosted a virtual “Women For Biden” event in Wisconsin, where she addressed concerns like child care, reproductive health, and the pay gap. She also advocated for the former vice president, stating she would support him even if he wasn’t her father.
“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,” she said, as reported by Elle.
Prior to that meeting, she spoke at a virtual event for Biden For North Carolina as well. As the campaign season heats up, she will probably become more active, as it seems she truly supports her father’s vision and candidacy.
