About Kirsten

My grandparents purchased their Menlo Park home in the 1950s, and my mother attended Menlo Park public schools. I was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, and moved to Redwood Shores in 1980. I started high school at Sequoia in Redwood City, and later attended Carlmont in Belmont. In 1996, my husband and I purchased our home in Menlo Park, and our children attend Menlo Park public schools. I have had my own law practice in San Mateo County for 18 years. 

I have volunteered with community organizations throughout San Mateo County for twenty years. I served on the Board of Directors of Sor Juana Inez, a battered women’s service agency, and now serve on the Advisory Board of CORA - Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse. I was elected President for two consecutive years by fellow Commissioners while serving on the San Mateo County Commission on the Status of Women, where I served for eight years. I have been a member of the San Mateo County Legal Aid Luncheon Committee, that diligently raises money to help people in our County obtain legal services, for the past fourteen years.

In Menlo Park, I have served on the Community Mediation Services Committee, Housing Commission and Planning Commission. I was elected to Menlo Park City Council in 2010, and became Mayor in 2011.

Over two decades of service to the community:

2013-present : Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, Director
2012-present : Service League of San Mateo County, Finance Committee, Board Member
2011-present : CORA - Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse, Advisory Board Member
2011-present : JobTrain, Technical Advisory Committee Member
2010-present : Menlo Park City Council, Mayor 2012
2009-present : Haven House, Legal Services Volunteer
2004-2010 : Menlo Park Planning Commission, Chair 2007
2004-2005 : Laurel School PTO, Financial Secretary
2003-2006 : National Women’s Political Caucus of San Mateo County, President 2004
2003-2004 : AYSO, Region 109, Menlo Park & Atherton, Soccer Coach 
2003-2004 : Menlo Park Housing Commission, Commissioner
2003-2004 : Emerge Political Training Leadership Program for Democratic Women, Graduate
2002-2005 : League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County, Board Member
2002-2003 : San Mateo County Citizens Academy, Graduate
2001-2006 : San Mateo County Bar Association, Committee Delegate
2001-2003 : Menlo Park Community Mediation Services Committee, Member
2000-2004 : San Mateo County Democratic Central Committee, Alternate for Assemblymember Simitian
1998-2001 : San Mateo County battered women’s service agency Sor Juana Inez, Board Member
1998-1999 : San Mateo County Prenatal to Three, Adopt-A-Family Program Member
1997-2012 : San Mateo County Legal Aid Society, Fundraising Committee Member
1996-2004 : San Mateo County Commission on the Status of Women, Commissioner, President 2000-2002
1993-1995 : Fair Oaks Community Center, International Institute, Immigrant Rights Volunteer
1992-1993 : San Mateo County Legal Aid Society, Law Clerk
1991-1993 : Public Interest Law Foundation of Golden Gate University, President 1992
1991-1992 : Domestic Violence Unit at the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, Law Clerk
1991-1992 : Family Violence Prevention Fund, Volunteer Victim Advocate
1989-1990 : Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County, Temporary Restraining Order Volunteer
1988-1990 : Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center, Volunteer Rape Crisis Intervention Advocate

Academic Credentials
  • Golden Gate University, School of Law
    J.D. in Law with Public Interest Law Award

  • University of California, Santa Barbara
    B.A. in Political Science with an International Relations Emphasis