From the Seat of Power: April Randall
By Jamie Bence • June 02, 2011 •Politics and Government
April R. Randall is an attorney in the D.C. Office of the Attorney General. She attended the University of Baltimore School of Law, and upon graduating in 2006, clerked from the Honorable Sherrie L. Krauser, Circuit Court of Prince George’s County. She previously served as a staff attorney for the Sexual Assault Legal Institute. April graduated from Wellesley College in 2003, where she majored in economics and minored in psychology. What factors led you to attend law school? Before going to Wellesley I knew I wanted to go to law school. My mother was a paralegal at my Uncle Hal’s…
From the Seat of Power: Melanie Krebs
By Jamie Bence • April 29, 2011 •Politics and Government
Melanie Krebs is a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Transportation, Energy, and Agriculture Section. Melanie graduated from Wellesley College, and spent time working as a paralegal and traveling in Portugal before law school. She attended the University of California Hastings School of Law. Following graduation, Melanie completed a year-long clerkship at the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, a civilian appellate court which reviews appeals within the military justice system. She was subsequently hired by the Department of Justice in her current position. What factors led you attend law school, and ultimately…
From the Seat of Power: Jami Westerhold
By Jamie Bence • March 31, 2011 •Politics and Government
Jami Westerhold has wanted to do environmental work since she was in high school. A self-described “notorious planner,” she decided she would attend Vermont Law while she was still a high school student in Wyoming. Jami learned that most of Vermont Law's students are from out of state originally, but attend undergrad in Vermont. Thus, she chose Green Mountain College for her bachelor's, an environmentally-focused liberal arts school, where she majored in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Public Advocacy. Jami has worked for numerous environmental organizations, including the Vermont Natural Resources Board, regional and local planning commissions, and the…
From the Seat of Power: Mary Rouvelas
By Jamie Bence • March 04, 2011 •Writers in Residence, Politics and Government
Mary Rouvelas is the Senior Counsel for the American Cancer Society in Washington, D.C. Mary graduated from Wellesley College magna cum laude in 1992, and worked in Venice Beach, CA for a year as a private investigator before attending the University of Virginia School of Law, graduating in 1996. She is a member of the bar in Virginia and the District of Columbia and is also admitted to practice at the United States Supreme Court. She currently directs the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s Judicial Advocacy Initiative, which recruits law firms on a pro…
From the Seat of Power: Lisa Kaeser
By Jamie Bence • January 29, 2011 •Writers in Residence, Politics and Government
This month's column features Lisa Kaeser, who currently serves as a senior program analyst in the Office of Program and Public Liaison at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health, HHS. She works as a liaison between the NICHD’s leadership and its many constituencies, which include Congress, the scientific and research advocacy communities, and the public. Prior to joining the NICHD over ten years ago, Ms. Kaeser worked for over a decade in women’s health research and policy issues at The Alan Guttmacher Institute, and before that for…