Feven Teklu was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and raised in Ethiopia by her grandparents before moving to Dallas, Texas with her parents. She attended Milton Hershey School in Pennsylvania and discovered her love of New York City during a class trip. She currently lives in Harlem with her husband, her two-year-old daughter, and soon her newborn son. Teklu is a Senior Leadership Giving Officer in the Office of Advancement at Brown University.