BHB offers a collective community round of applause to Brooklyn Heights resident Michele Kirschbaum, who was commemorated Tuesday March 6, as one of Brooklyn’s Extraordinary Women by the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, in honor of Women’s History Month. The 31 awards—one for each day of this month—acknowledge “outstanding women for their accomplishment and service to their communities.”
Kirschbaum received the DA’s Choice Award, as Director of Programs for the New York Peach Institute, a not-for-profit that provides free mediation services in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Its programs have assisted numerous families and neighbors through underlying conflicts that escalated to criminal actions.
Prior to her current position, Kirschbaum was Coordinator of Special Education Mediation for more than 10 years, during which she mediated hundreds of cases assisting parents of children with disabilities and guiding the NYC school system in resolving disagreements about students’ special needs. In recognition of that work, she received the Lawrence Cooke Peace Innovator Award from the New York State Dispute Resolution Assn.