Chair, Fundraising Committee

Mrs. Kessler is the Co-founder and Director of the Kessler Family Foundation. She is a member of the Women’s Health Leadership Forum at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as well as a member of the President’s Advisory Council. She also serves on the board of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where she Co-chaired the Visiting Committee for Gastrointestinal Cancers. Mrs. Kessler is the Co-founder of the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Leadership Council for Psychiatry and the Global Ambassador of the Measles Initiative for the American Red Cross. She is the Chairman of the Board of the Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society and immediate past chairman of South Florida PBS. She serves on the executive committee of the American Ireland Fund, and the Palm Beach Police Foundation. She is also on the board of the Kennedy Center, the Ayenda Foundation, the Global Health Advisory Council at Harvard Medical School, and the Town of Palm Beach United Way. Mrs. Kessler was formerly Honorary Consul of Monaco in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2013, she received the Jack Connors, Jr. Award for Excellence in Philanthropy. In 2012, she received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the American Red Cross’s Life Time Achievement Award and the Palm Tree Award from the Palm Beach Police Foundation. Mrs. Kessler was honored in 2009 by Massachusetts General Hospital with the Leadership Award by the Chief of Psychiatry and with the 2009 American Red Cross International Leadership Award and the 2009 American Ireland Fund Humanitarian Award. In 2007, she received the Women of Distinction Award by Palm Beach Atlantic University. Mrs. Kessler and her husband, Howard, have two sons and four grandchildren. They divide their time between their homes in Palm Beach, Boston and Osterville, MA.