[2] She has particularly focused on supporting candidates who are women, people of color, and from underrepresented communities,[3][4] and she is a prominent activist in the movement to protect voting rights and American democracy.

[9] Her mother was a nurse, her father Jared Tinklenberg was a physician and medical school professor, and her grandfather was a Christian chaplain in the U.S.

[15][16] Jurvetson served on the board of directors of Peninsula Open Space Trust from 2003 to 2006 and was a founding donor to Wildlife Conservation Network (2002 to present).

[17][18] After touring deforestation on the slopes of Mauna Kea in 2016, she sponsored the planting of 1,000 indigenous trees through the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative.

[14] In 2008 Jurvetson volunteered in the swing state of Nevada for then-candidate Barack Obama, as well as making 46 contributions to Democrats totaling $128,700.

[25] After the election of Donald Trump in November 2016, her donations to Democratic candidates markedly increased to $6.9 million in advance of the 2018 midterms, making her one of the nation's top political donors.

[26] She also put her psychiatric practice "on pause" to pursue political and policy goals, including expanded voting rights and preserving democracy.

[27] Jurvetson serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of EMILY's List, which supports Democratic pro-choice women candidates and has more than five million members.

[29] EMILY's List would fund the successful campaign of Congresswoman Sharice Davids (KS-03) in 2018, the second Native American woman ever elected to Congress.

Jurvetson was among the first national donors to Judge Janet Protasiewicz in her successful campaign to win a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court,[44] a race called "the most important election of 2023.

[46] Jurvetson was among the largest donors to the campaign to defeat Issue One in Ohio, placed on the August 2023 ballot by Republican legislators to make it harder for voters to amend the state constitution.

The major funders in support of Ohio Issue 1 were conservative Illinois businessman Richard Uihlein and the Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus Archdiocese of the Catholic Church.