About Carsten

Ann Arbor City Council

• Environmental Commission
• Greenbelt Advisory Commission
• Audit Committee
• Washtenaw Area Transportation Study
• Student Relations Committee

Biographical Sketch

• Native Ann Arborite
• Attended the 5th Ward's public schools
• U of M, BS Computer Science, BS Biopsychology
• MIT, PhD Neuroscience
• Duke University and HHMI, Fellow
• Strategic and Financial Consultant, Mars & Co.
• Small Business Owner, West Pole, Inc., Vie, Inc.
• Participant, Downtown Marketing Task Force
• Former Board Member, MIT Community Service Fund
• Active supporter of numerous local non-profits including HARC, Food Gatherers, March of Dimes, and Waste Knot
• Pilot
• Married, father

Rooted in Our Ward and Our Town

Carsten was born and raised in the Fifth Ward. His first summer and after-school jobs were in the ward—at the Washtenaw Dairy, at Kline’s department store on Main St., and at the city’s Parks and Recreation Department mowing the parks in our neighborhoods.

Carsten attended the public schools in our ward and is also an alumnus of the University of Michigan where he received a competitive scholarship and graduated with class honors and degrees in computer science and biopsychology.

After some time away from Ann Arbor for graduate school in Boston and the early part of his career in New York City, Carsten was pulled back to Ann Arbor for its strong community and quality of life. Now he lives with his wife, Heather, and son, Oscar, in the Fifth Ward that he grew up in near Virginia Park.

Heather and Carsten have devoted themselves to investing in the Ann Arbor community. Both are working to build local businesses that serve our community and provide jobs. They’re also active in supporting neighborhood associations and local charitable organizations including HARC, Food Gatherers and the March of Dimes.

A Record of Action

Carsten, like many before him, became active in community issues while at the University of Michigan. There he volunteered with PIRGIM and learned about grass-roots organizing and local environmental issues. Carsten also worked at the U of M Medical Center to support an employee-driven environmental and cost improvement program.

Carsten carried his passion for civic involvement forward while completing his doctoral dissertation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At MIT, Carsten advocated for improved housing options for low-income students as Chair of the Housing and Community Affairs Board of the Graduate Student Council (GSC). While serving as Treasurer of the GSC, Carsten developed and organized a fundraising initiative to support a reading mentorship program in the local elementary schools.

Carsten also served as a Board Member of MIT’s Community Service Fund. The Community Service Fund works to match resources with valuable community initiatives including those that work to reduce dropout rates, homelessness, and illiteracy.

In Ann Arbor, Carsten has been active in supporting the get!downtown, Think Local First, and Waste Knot programs while creating jobs in our downtown core, and has been involved with the Mayor’s Downtown Marketing Task Force to help support and increase the vitality of locally-owned businesses. Carsten’s engagement with, and understanding of, a broad range of city issues has earned him the support of community leaders and neighbors alike. In November, 2008 Carsten was elected to Ann Arbor City Council from the Fifth Ward.

Shared Values

Carsten shares the values of our community—the community he was born and raised in. He believes that we can protect and strengthen the quality of life in Ann Arbor while reaching to put Ann Arbor on a more sustainable footing for the future.

Ann Arbor is a place that is a town as much as it is a small city. It’s a place that is down to earth and that values high-quality city services and neighborhood parks; a place with a pedestrian-friendly downtown and a comfortable scale.

But it’s also a place that reaches forward: a place that sees value in being a leader in protecting the environment, in supporting the arts, and in learning and research. Ann Arbor is a place that reaches for new transportation and energy solutions because we know it will make us a stronger community tomorrow.

If you share Carsten’s vision of a community rooted in a strong quality of life, and reaching for sustainable solutions for tomorrow, then please join the conversation!