About Mark
Mark Kleinschmidt has served on the Chapel Hill Town Council since December 2001. He was the fifth openly-gay North Carolinians to be elected in state history.
After six years as a staff attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in Durham, in October 2006 Kleinschmidt became the executive director of the Fair Trial Initiative (FTI). His practice combines his representation of several North Carolina capital defendants in post-conviction litigation with recruitment and mentorship of young attorneys and their development towards becoming capital trial attorneys. Previously, Kleinschmidt was a social studies teacher at West Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte where he was recognized as the 1997 teacher of the year.
He has served on numerous boards and organizations, including the North Carolina American Civil Liberties Union, the International Network of Lesbian and Gay Officials, the North Carolina Democratic Party and Equality NC. He also holds membership with the Triangle Business and Professional Guild.
Kleinschmidt earned his juris doctorate and bachelor’s degree in education, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and attended Universidad de las Americas.
He was born at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Ill., and lived in Hawaii and New Mexico before moving to Goldsboro, N.C. at the age of 10. His father, Jim Kleinschmidt, is a retired U.S. Air Force chief master sergeant and his mother, Marge Kleinschmidt, is a registered nurse. He has a twin sister, Michelle Barbee, who lives here in Chapel Hill with her husband Greg and daughter Asia-marie.
Committees:
- Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission
- Council Committee on Economic Development
- Council Committee on Firefighters’ Relief Fund
- Council on Sustainable Community (Chamber of Commerce)
- Human Services Advisory Board
- Inclusionary Zoning Task Force
- Justice in Action Committee
- Montessori School Committee
- Mayor’s Committee on Campaign Finance
- Mayor’s Committee on Council Communications
- Rogers Road Small Area Plan Task Force