Kirsten Elizabeth Rutnik (Gillibrand) was born in Albany, New York on December 9, 1966. She is the middle child of Polly Edwina and Douglas Paul Rutnik. Both her parents are attorneys, and her father also worked as a lobbyist. Kirsten attended all-girls prep school in Troy, New York before enrolling in Dartmouth College. From which, she majored in Asian studies. Kirsten graduated magna cum laude in 1988 and went on to earn her Juris Doctor degree from UCLA Law School. Kirsten took on the username Gillibrand after marrying a British venture capitalist, Jonathan Gillibrand. The two were married in a Catholic Church in Manhattan in 2001. She had her first child in 2003 and her second son in 2008. She lives in Brunswick, New York with her
