Candidate for
Council Member; City of Menlo Park

Believing in giving back to her community, Kirsten has volunteered her time with many different groups and organizations, both in Menlo Park and in San Mateo County.

In Menlo Park, she was a member of the Conflict Resolution Committee, which helped Menlo Park neighbors resolve their disputes. She was then appointed by the Council to the Housing Commission, where she served for two years. Kirsten was next appointed to the Planning Commission in 2004. She has been serving on this Commission since then and was Chair of the Commission in 2007.

Kirsten also gives back to the community by volunteering her legal services at Haven House, here in Menlo Park, through the San Mateo County Bar Association. She has been a member of the San Mateo County Legal Aid Luncheon Committee, that diligently raises money to help indigent people obtain legal services, for the last twelve years.

Kirsten was on the Board of Directors of Sor Juana Inez, a Spanish speaking battered women's service agency in San Mateo County. Kirsten learned to speak Spanish while living in Chile when she was in middle school. As a San Mateo County Commissioner on the Commission on the Status of Women, she was elected President for two consecutive years by fellow Commissioners.

Over a decade of service to the community:

• 2004-2010 : Menlo Park Planning Commissioner, 2007 Chair
• 2004-2005 : Laurel School PTO, Financial Secretary
• 2003-2006 : National Women's Political Caucus, San Mateo County
• 2003-2004 : AYSO Soccer Coach
• 2002-2005 : League of Women Voters, South County, Board Member
• 2002-2004 : Menlo Park Housing Commissioner
• 2001-2006 : San Mateo County Bar Association, Committee Delegate
• 2001-2004 : San Mateo County DCC, Alternate for Senator Simitian
• 2000-2002 : Menlo Park Mediation Commissioner
• 1998-2001 : Battered Women's Service Agency, Board Member
• 1997-2010 : San Mateo County Legal Aid Society, Fundraising Committee
• 1996-2004 : Commission on the Status of Women, County Commissioner