Kristi Schulenberg
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| Kristi Schulenberg (left) and spouse Kathryn. |
Kristi has an impressive, diverse career in the non-profit
sector. Before coming to law school, she served as the Director, National
Training Program at Amnesty International USA and as Director, Social Justice
Program at Catholic Charities USA. In both these positions, she directed and
implemented a national training strategy to develop and strengthen advocates in
promoting social justice and human rights.
Why Kristi decided to go to law
school
Shortly after graduating high school, Kristi moved to
Dayton, OH to work in the Office of Social Action at the University of Dayton
(UD).Later, as a student at UD, Kristi attended an event where she heard Sister
Helen Prejean, the author of Dead Man
Walking, speak about her relationship with a death row inmate. As a result
of hearing Sr. Helen’s story she became active in Ohioans To Stop Executions.
Always one to promote compassion and social change, Kristi
volunteered to become a pen pal with an inmate on Ohio ’s death row. Looking over a list of
names, she randomly selected Daniel Bedford. Having no idea what to expect,
Kristi began corresponding with Dan on a regular basis through letters, phone
calls and visits. Although Dan was convicted of murder for a crime he committed
in the mid 80’s, the man Kristi connected with wasn’t the monster many people
might expect, but instead was a genuine and kind person who took responsibility
for his actions.
Over their more than a decade and a half relationship,
Kristi came to regard Dan as family. She was by Dan’s side through numerous
appeals, efforts to have a stay of execution granted and even through his execution
itself in 2011. Although Dan had an excellent federal public defender at the
end of his life, that wasn’t always the case. Kristi’s experience with Dan
opened her eyes to the need for dedicated and talented attorneys committed to
criminal defense of the indigent and to the idea of creating change through the
law.
Something interesting about
Kristi’s Law School
By participating in GGU’s Honor’s Lawyering Program, Kristi had
several internships. Her first internship after HLP was with Justice Now, where
she worked with and assisted transgendered clients in California ’s women’s prisons. Since then,
she has also interned with the San Francisco Immigration Court where she
drafted decisions for asylum and motions to reopen; The Alameda County Office
of the Public Defender where she drafted 995 motions and appeared on the record
in support of the motions; and The California Appellate Project where she
drafted a Wheeler-Batson claim. Through these internships, Kristi gained a breadth
of experience and knowledge of numerous areas of criminal and immigration law.
Another highlight of Kristi’s GGU Law experience has been
her involvement with The Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF). As a member of
the Executive Board of PILF, Kristi has dedicated numerous hours to making sure
the PILF Auction goes off without a hitch, thereby raising monies for PILF
Grants to law students who seek public interest internships.
Kristi’s message to fellow law
students
Kristi’s biggest piece of advice to fellow law students is
to complete as many internships as possible during law school. When applying
for internships and jobs, having prior experience helps make one stand out from
the crowd. To help build professional skills on your resume, get involved with
a SORG and take on a leadership role. For a cover letter that will get an
interviewer’s attention, tell a personal story that explains why you are
passionate about the position and why you would be the best fit.
If Kristi wasn’t in law school
right now…
She’d love to be stand up paddling in Hawaii ! However, as an alternative, you
would find Kristi working as an executive director of a small non-profit
focused on policy work or some sort of advocacy and continuously working
towards mobilizing people for social change.
Interviewer: Kelly Murray is a first-year law student at GGU. A life long animal advocate, she plans to focus on animal law after graduation. When she’s not stuck in case books, you can find her at the beach playing with Elly and Harry, her two crazy, senior dogs.
