DC Central Kitchen is thrilled to name our new headquarters in honor of Michael Klein and his long-standing commitment to our mission. Michael’s $10 million seed investment in the Michael R. Klein Center for Jobs and Justice will allow us to triple our capacity and scale our ability to provide job training and healthy food at a time when our community needs these resources more urgently than ever before. As Michael shared with DC Central Kitchen’s donor community in May 2021, “what DC Central Kitchen is doing is a combination of all the things that a lot of us ought to care a lot about.”
Michael’s gift follows his capstone gift in our first job training café and catering kitchen, which opened on the campus of THEARC in Ward 8 in 2019. “This is the second time Mr. Klein has seen the potential of a DC Central Kitchen project and played a decisive role in taking it off the whiteboard and into our community. His latest gift has secured the future of our mission in this new home while inspiring millions of dollars in timely donations as we seek to expand our activities during this pivotal moment for our city,” says DC Central Kitchen Chief Executive Officer Mike Curtin, Jr.
In addition to his support of DC Central Kitchen, Michael’s philanthropic activities include co-founding The Sunlight Foundation and the Global Warming Mitigation Project, as well as endowing The Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for both the Shakespeare Theatre Company and the Aspen Music Festival and School. In his professional life, Michael is the Chairman of the Board and co-founder of CoStar Group Inc., and a director of ThinkFoodGroup, the restaurant group led by José Andrés.
