Martha Karsh, a graduate of the University of Virginia (1978) and Virginia Law School (1981), has raised three children, practiced law, done extensive non-profit work and run a number of design and construction projects. Ms. Karsh’s children are: Katie, a 2008 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and former corps member with Teach for America; Jeffrey, a 2010 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and currently a real estate analyst at Canyon Partners in Los Angeles; and Michael, a Brown University sophomore. Between 1981 and 1995, Ms. Karsh practiced law as a business litigator, a counseling attorney and lecturer at UCLA and a volunteer with the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Children’s Services Division (Volunteer of the Year 1987).
In 1998, together with Bruce Karsh, now President of Oaktree Capital Management and her spouse of 31 years, Ms. Karsh founded the Karsh Family Foundation, a charitable organization focused primarily on supporting education. To date, the Karshes and their Foundation have made gifts and pledges in excess of $100 million to support scholarship and education at all levels. Their largest gifts have been for financial aid at Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Virginia Law School, as well as for Teach for America and KIPP. In addition to making monetary gifts, Ms. Karsh personally has served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations, including: Brentwood School; Painted Turtle Camp; Mother’s Club; Foothill Family Service; Temple Beth David; and the University of Pennsylvania Parent Leadership Committee.
Currently, Ms. Karsh serves on the Board of Governors of the University of Virginia Law School Foundation; the Boards of Trustees of Common Sense Media and the Los Angeles Parks Foundation; and the Advisory Board of KIPP LA.
Over the past nine years, Ms. Karsh honed her interest and skills in architecture, engineering, landscape and interior design, and building by developing and managing a number of major residential construction projects. In 2009, Ms. Karsh co-founded Clark & Karsh, an architecture, design and development firm, with architect Brad Clark. The firm is presently at work on projects in Los Angeles and Montecito.
Ms. Karsh’s personal interests include fitness, hiking, reading and writing.
