Elise Stefanik was born in Albany, New York in 1984 to Melanie and Ken Stefanik. Her parents own a plywood business in the Albany area.[1] After graduating from the Albany Academy for Girls, she entered Harvard University, graduating with a degree in Government in 2006.[2][3] While at Harvard, she was awarded the Women's Leadership Award.[4][5] After graduating from Harvard, she joined the administration of President George W. Bush,[6] working as staff to the Domestic Policy Council.[7] Stefanik worked in the office of the White House Chief of Staff for Joshua Bolten, Bush's second deputy chief of staff.[7] She also helped prepare the GOP platform in 2012, served as director of new media for Tim Pawlenty's presidential exploratory committee, and worked at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Foreign Policy Initiative.[8] Stefanik managed Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan’s debate preparation as he ran for Vice President of the United States in the 2012 general election.[6][9] Following the Romney-Ryan loss in the 2012 presidential election, she returned to upstate New York and joined her parents' wholesale plywood business.[10]  No mention of Judaism in her early life.