* Co-founder of the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation
A graduate of Mills College in Oakland, California, Michele Kirsch holds a law degree from Santa Clara University. After working for some time as a commercial real-estate broker in San Francisco, in 1999 she co-founded, with her husband Steven Kirsch, the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation to promote radical environmentalism and the elimination of nuclear weapons.
In addition to her philanthropic pursuits, Mrs. Kirsch in recent years has served as a volunteer fundraiser for her favorite charities. These include the Children’s Health Council (whose mission is to help “children who face behavioral and developmental challenges” by providing “interdisciplinary educational, assessment and treatment services, and professional training”); the Northern California Innocence Project (which “works within an educational framework to exonerate indigent California prisoners who have been wrongly convicted”); and the Resource Area for Teachers (which provides schoolteachers with materials and training designed to help them give their students hands-on learning experiences).