Passionate about unequal access to opportunity as a key social justice issue, Marissa Lifshen Steinberger (she/her pronouns) has more than 20 years of experience supporting individuals and teams in the education, foundation, and non-profit sectors. With expertise in college admissions, academic advising, and student engagement, she has worked at high schools in Chicago, New York City, and Atlanta, as well as on multiple university campuses. She spent more than a decade as a program manager and team lead at the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation providing comprehensive support to advance the education of exceptionally promising students from low-income backgrounds.

An active community volunteer, Marissa is part of an initiative that provides pro bono coaching to high-needs students in Arlington (VA) Public Schools. and she served on the Equity Task Force at her neighborhood's elementary school. In 2020, she facilitated challenging conversations through an innovative program called Pivot: Study & Action Groups on Race Equity in America. Marissa is also a top fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society; she and her team, Down with Disease, have raised over $350,000 since 2008. 

Originally from Dallas, Texas, Marissa now lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband and two young sons.​