Kirsten served in government for more than 14 years, during which she founded and chaired the Danish All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The group grew to include more than one-third of parliament members from all parties. Her approach focused on establishing a multi-stakeholder platform to involve civil society, the business community, academia, and municipalities in Denmark’s implementation efforts around the SDGs. Additionally, Kirsten also served on the committees for Environment and Food; Energy, Utilities and Climate; Foreign Affairs; and Science and Higher Education.
She is currently focused on continuing to engage international bodies to link local and national efforts around these goals with regional and global implementation initiatives. Kirsten received a master's degree in public administration and international development from the University of Roskilde, Denmark and a second master’s degree in contemporary war and peace studies from the University of Sussex. Kirsten was awarded a German Marshall Memorial Fund Fellowship, a four-week fellowship that brings leaders to the United States to discuss transatlantic relations, and was a participant in the European Young Leaders program in Brussels. Kirsten is an Obama Foundation Scholar (Columbia University, 2020).