Righting history with Rosie Rios, 43rd Treasurer of the United States Episode 52
Episode Summary
Kicking off the new season of Her Success Matters is Rosie Rios, the 43rd Treasurer of the United States. In this episode, host Christine Shaw discusses with Rosie her historical role as U.S. Treasurer and her current initiatives as she continues to champion women in wealth and empower the next generation of leadership. As Treasurer during the Obama Administration, Rosie oversaw all currency and coin production activities with almost 4,000 employees and an annual budget of $5 billion. She also initiated the efforts to place a portrait of a woman on U.S. currency and received the Hamilton Award – the U.S. Treasury’s highest honor. Her signature currently appears on a world-record $1.7 trillion of U.S. currency.
Episode Notes
We discuss:
- Rosie’s push for women to be featured on U.S. currency, including the redesign of the $20 bill with Harriet Tubman.
- Rosie’s movement to change the way Americans acknowledge and visualize women’s role in history.
- How prioritizing diverse leadership will impact the way we can democratize wealth for future generations.
- Upcoming projects on Rosie’s plate, including her new show “Unicorn Hunters.”
Resources: InvestmentNews | Christine Shaw | Rosie Rios | EMPOWERMENT 2026 |
Guest bio:
Former Treasurer Rosie Rios became an Accidental Educator, Historian and Feminist as one of the longest-serving senior Treasury officials in the Obama Administration, starting with her time on the Treasury/Federal Reserve Transition Team at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. She continues her work to empower the next generation of leadership as a visiting scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and focuses on evolving our culture one millennial/post-millennial at a time.
Rosie Rios is the CEO of Red River Associates, a real estate investment management consulting firm, and a co-host of “Unicorn Hunters,” a reality series focused on pre-IPO investments. She served as the 43rd Treasurer of the United States and was the CEO of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint, including Fort Knox. She also initiated and led the efforts to place a portrait of a woman on U.S. currency for the first time in over a century. Upon her resignation in 2016, she received the Hamilton Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Department of the Treasury. Following her tenure, she was appointed as a visiting scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University with a focus on millennials and post-millennials.
Rosie is a graduate of Harvard University and was selected as the first Latina in Harvard’s 385-year history to have a portrait commissioned in her honor. Her portrait was officially unveiled at Winthrop House in May 2019. She currently serves on the board of American Family Insurance, Ripple, Fidelity Charitable Trust, the Schlesinger Council at Harvard and the Advisory Committee for Artemis Real Estate Partners. She was previously a Trustee with the Alameda County Employees Retirement Association. In 2019, she was appointed as a member of America 250, the congressional commission to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding in 2026. She serves on the executive committee, is the chair of the finance and audit committees, and is leading the strategic planning process.
Her personal passion includes serving as Founder and CEO of EMPOWERMENT 2026, an initiative that facilitates the physical recognition of historical American women. Its first project, Teachers Righting History, recognizes historical American women in classrooms across the country. She has also launched Notable Women, an Augmented Reality educational initiative in collaboration with Google. In August 2020, she was honored as one of USA Today’s Women of the Century.