Candidate for
Governing Board Member; South Pasadena Unified School District

Michele Kipke has served on our School Board for nearly five years. Appointed in 2008 and elected soon thereafter in 2009, Michele has been committed to our schools since she moved to South Pasadena 11 years ago. Prior to serving on the School Board, she served on the South Pasadena Educational Foundation Board as the Vice President of Strategic Planning, and also served an appointment to the city's Youth Commission Her work with SPEF and now with the School Board has been informed by engaging with the day to day workings of our schools and in our classrooms: she has been a member of the PTA since moving to South Pasadena eleven years ago, chaired the Science Fair Committee at Marengo Elementary, and served on the District's Shade Committee.

As a member of the School Board, Michele has continued her passionate advocacy for public education, working hand-in-glove with her colleagues on the school board and in the community to maintain the high quality of South Pasadena schools despite the daunting challenges of the state budget's collapse after the 2008 economic downturn. During her time on the Board, the District has thrived: the State has designated every one of our schools as a distinguished school the District's API score just reached 920, and it is currently ranked 14th among 330 unified school districts in the State.

Michele has spent her career focused on the health and well being of children and adolescents. She has also served on the boards of the U.S. Mentor Foundation and The Saban Free Clinic. She has been an advisor to the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Medicine, the National Research Council, and the World Health Organization. She has volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the Los Angeles child welfare system.

A nationally recognized researcher and policy expert on children and families, Michele is a Professor of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine at USC's Keck School of Medicine. Michele also serves of Vice Chair of Research at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and directs the Boone-Fetter Clinic, which provides diagnostic and treatment services to children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. She remains actively engaged in research and is the principal investigator of several studies, including HIV prevention research funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Michele attended the University of Southern California, and holds a BA from New York University and a Ph.D. from Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. Michele is committed and compassionate, and she sets a high standard for herself and others. More importantly, she expects transparency and accountability.