Estess was a co-founder of Naked Angels theatre company in Manhattan; she was its producing director until 1993.
Estess also started Project ALS, which raises funds for finding a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease, from which she suffered.
In 2000, Estess testified before Senator Arlen Specter’s sub-committee on Labor, Health, Human Services and Education.
We are already seeing the incredible potential of stem cells to replace what is destroyed in ALS, but we need the federal government to mentor research along in the most responsible, humane way."
and private industry have started stem cell replacement on the right track," she urged Congress to "do the right thing and take us to the next level with this life-saving science."