Elizabeth Robinson Koch
Born1976 (age 47–48)
Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
Syracuse University (MFA)
Occupation(s)Founder of Black Balloon Publishing and Catapult
SpouseJason Kakoyiannis
Parents
RelativesChase Koch (brother)

Elizabeth Robinson Koch (/koʊk/ KOHK; born 1976) is an American publisher, writer, and entrepreneur. She has published work for One Story, Columbia Journalism Review, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The New York Observer, and other publications.[1]

Biography

Koch is the daughter of American businessman Charles Koch, the co-owner, CEO, and chairman of Koch Industries, and Liz Koch.[2] She has a brother, Chase Koch.[3] Koch grew up in Wichita, Kansas and is a graduate of Wichita Collegiate School. She earned a B.A. in English Literature from Princeton University and an M.F.A. in fiction from Syracuse University.[2]

Koch was the editor of Opium Magazine.[2] She is the cofounder of the Literary Death Match reading series, Black Balloon Publishing and publisher Catapult; the latter was founded in September 2015.[4] She's the founder of New Balloon, a media company that co-produced the 2015 film Beasts of No Nation.

Koch founded two nonprofit organizations: 'Unlikely Collaborators', focused on self-investigation,[5] and Tiny Blue Dot consciousness research foundation.[6][7]

Personal

Koch lives in the greater Los Angeles area with her husband, Jason Kakoyiannis, an attorney who founded Bioscentric in 2013.

Koch states that she is "apolitical."[7]

After a traumatic childhood incident led Elizabeth Koch to believe she had to be perfectly good and likable to be loved, she later underwent MDMA-assisted therapy and became a major donor to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in order to help fund and expand access to psychedelic therapies.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Elizabeth Koch". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Maloney, Jennifer (10 September 2015). "A Literary Koch Launches New Publishing House". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Koch, Charles (1935)". New Netherland Project. Archived from the original on 2010-12-13. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  4. ^ Swanson, Clare (3 February 2015). "Founders of Electric Lit, Black Balloon Launch New Publishing Venture". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  5. ^ Barnes, Brooks, The Billionaire's Daughter Knows What You Are Thinking, The New York Times, February 24, 2023
  6. ^ "Our Team". Tiny Blue Dot Foundation. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  7. ^ a b Livni, Ephrat (14 December 2018). "Here's why Elizabeth Koch, the daughter of a GOP megadonor, chose science over politics". Quartz. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  8. ^ Nuwer, Rachel Love (2023). I feel love: MDMA and the quest for connection in a fractured world. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-63557-957-4.
Categories