Born, raised and educated in the French part of Switzerland, Christine Forester came to the United States in 1964 after completing a thesis in hospital architecture and receiving her Diplôme d’ Architecte.

At the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she was given special status to investigate the potential for hospital architecture to accommodate constantly evolving medical sciences and technology. She served as a consultant architect for several of the Medical Center’s expansion plans.

In 1967, Ms. Forester joined the internationally renowned Chicago architectural firm of Bertrand Goldberg, F.A.I.A., as head of research for the master plan for New York State University’s Health Science Center at Stony Brook, Long Island.

Marriage brought Christine Forester to La Jolla, California, in 1968. She became a partner in her late husband’s firm, Russell Forester, F.A.I.A., and Associates.

In 1978, Ms. Forester established The Space Factory, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to research projects in architecture and urbanism. That year, she received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to research, develop, and script Space+, a series of seven one-hour television programs on architecture, spaces and environments. She gathered a team of renowned professionals and academics in various fields, including anthropology, sociology, psychology, urbanism and cinematography. Together they examined what  people do to space and what spaces do to people.

With the knowledge she gained from architecture,

hospital architecture and the Space+ project, Ms.Forester decided to apply the same analytical approach to helping individuals and businesses define their paths, structure effective plans of action, design and implement specific programs, and reach their goals.

In 1981, she started Christine Forester Catalyst, a business management, marketing and community affairs consulting company. Her varied clientele includes business professionals as well as banks, accounting firms, real estate development and transportation corporations, insurance and energy companies, health care organizations, retail and hospitality businesses, UC San Diego, and San Diego State University, as well as tech-, high-tech and bio-tech corporations.

Ms. Forester was the 1978 recipient of the San Diego Council on Youth  Outstanding Contribution Award. That same year she became a Founding Member of Charter 100 and served on its board until 1999.

A Member of the Board of the Museum of Photographic Arts (1981–1986), Ms. Forester Chaired its Architectural Committee and also Chaired its Nominating Committee.

In 1989, she became an American citizen. That year, she also served on the Advisory Panel of the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture’s Allocations Programs Commission.

Ms. Forester served on the Advisory Board of International Savings Bank  (1990–1994), and served on ISB’s Marketing Committee and its Retail Bank Strategy Task Force.

She was a member of the Board of Trustees of Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center from 1991 through

1997, and from 1999 to 2007. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of  the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Foundation, and Chaired the Governance Committee of both SKCC and SKCCF (1999–2007).

Ms. Forester served on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (1992–1998).

In 1993, she was one of the first women to be invited to join Club 33, one of the largest Rotary Clubs in the country. Her classification is Marketing.

She served on the Development Committee of VerifiedVoting.org and Verified Voting Foundation (2002–2004).

Christine Forester is the author and illustrator of Let’s Face It! (1984), and co-authored A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind (2000).

Ms. Forester has been actively involved  with raising funds for Democratic candidates and causes since 2002.

She also raised funds for Senator Obama’s HopeFund, and joined his presidential campaign at its inception as Vice Chair of his National Finance Committee. She served on two of his national advisory boards: the Arts Policy Committee and the Urban Policy Committee, and sat on three Leadership Outreach Committees. Following the elections, she consulted on three transition teams. Currently, Christine Forester is a member of the NFC/OFA/DNC, and she serves on the Finance Committees of two national Committees: Common Purpose Project and Unity Fund. She also serves on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.