Kirsten Kakarigi joined CFEE in 2022 as the Events Director. She is entrusted with the design, coordination, and execution of CFEE’s international study tours, policy forums, workshops, and in-house events.

Before devoting her work full time to CFEE, Kirsten Kakarigi served for over a decade as principal and lead planner at KMK Design, a renowned event planning business based in Sacramento. During that time, she planned hundreds of weddings, social, corporate, and non-profit events in Northern California and beyond. Her flair for creativity, passion for logistics and meticulous attention to detail ensured that all of her events were not only flawlessly executed but also uniquely tailored to each client's vision. 

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Outside of her professional responsibilities, Kirsten is deeply committed to giving back to the community. She actively volunteers at Food Literacy Center, a Sacramento non-profit that teaches low-income elementary school children cooking, nutrition and gardening skills. She also organizes  fundraisers and events for the St. Sava Mission, a non-profit that focuses on supporting and preserving Serbian culture and communities in the United States. As a part of her love and passion for her Serbian roots, Kirsten also spends one week every summer managing the kitchen at the St. Sava Serbian Children's Camp in Jackson, California. 

Kirsten lives in the Sacramento suburbs with her husband, Jeremy, and their adorable daughter Sofia. When she's not busy crafting events for CFEE, you can find her trying out new recipes, baking with her daughter, adding stamps to her passport, working on interior design projects, gardening, and continuing her never-ending search for the world’s best cheeseburger (currently, the original Emmy Burger at Emily in Brooklyn, NY) .