Marcie Lipsitt lives in Michigan with her husband, son and three dogs. She was born feeling the ills, pain and prejudice that plagued children like her sister with severe learning disabilities and brother with ADHD; a father with Bipolar Disorder and OCD and frankly any child who appeared to have a challenge. She stood up for the kids in school being made fun of, or those with few to no friends. Little did she realize she was evolving advocacy and activism skills.

For the past 21 years she has been a mother to her greatest inspiration and hero, her son Andrew. Andrew has severe learning disabilities and including NLD, CAPD and EFD but in addition he suffers from the childhood onset of Bipolar Disorder, OCD, ADHD, multiple anxiety disorders and medical morbidities.

Currently, Marcie is the founder and co-chair of the Michigan Alliance for Special Education, a grassroots advocacy organization that has held a rally on the steps of the Michigan Capitol. They successfully lobbied for an ESY rule in the Michigan Special Education Administrative Rules; along with maintaining “severe discrepancy” and “2 short term objectives” during the last significant rule promulgation period in August 2008. Her efforts have been instrumental in forcing Michigan to raise the standards required for secondary special education teachers. Marcie also proudly sits on the Massachusetts General Hospital Pediatric Psychopharmacology Advisory Council and lobbies tirelessly for mental health parity. Marcie serves as a Parent Leader for The National Center for Learning Disabilities,' "Parents as Advocates" initiative.

Marcie is “passionate that our children’s greatest civil right is their opportunity for a meaningful public education. An education that sends them on to post-secondary education, the global workforce or any path that leads to a maximally productive adulthood and optimal quality of life.”