Kirsten has been developing her expertise in talent assessment and leadership development for almost three decades. She has assessed thousands of executives in both corporate and academic settings across every major industry, function, and geography. She also led admissions and financial aid for two of the most selective business schools in the world. Through these experiences, she has sharpened her understanding of what leadership behaviors distinguish extraordinary impact and performance.

Kirsten was most recently the Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at Stanford Graduate School of Business. During her tenure, she led efforts to improve the selection process, increase diversity within the class, and redesign the financial aid system. Prior to becoming Assistant Dean, Kirsten was a consultant at Egon Zehnder in the Global Innovations Practice, where she helped develop a framework for measuring leadership potential. Her doctorate research also focused on examining how to assess leadership capability, specifically through behavioral based interviews.

Kirsten has enjoyed working in the classroom at the GSB as a facilitator with the Interpersonal Dynamics course in both the MBA program and Executive Education. She continues to coach senior executives and consult with organizations on how to develop leadership capability.

Prior to her roles at Stanford, Kirsten worked at Harvard Business School. As the Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, she led the selection of the MBA class and oversaw marketing, outreach, evaluation, operations, and enrollment. As the Director of Career Services, she worked in partnership with hundreds of companies to help them recruit and hire talent and counseled students and alumni on all aspects of their career development.