Published:
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Three years ago, when she was finishing her internship as an ACLU-WA Intake and Referral Counselor, Kelly Anderson already knew she wanted to come back. Then a U.W. Social Work major, she liked listening to and talking with individuals, and helping them work through their legal problems.
“I had learned of the ACLU in classes at college – both through speakers from the ACLU and in a sociology practicum that researched racial disparities in drug laws and policies. I was inspired by the impactful work the organization does,” she recalled.
Now in her final year at Seattle University Law School, Kelly is indeed back as an extern with the ACLU-WA Legal Department. She is passionate about social justice and hopes to get involved with many of the issues the ACLU takes on. So far, she’s been working on mental health treatment in jails, employment discrimination, and policies surrounding the death penalty.
Kelly had realized her passion for social justice during her time at Chief Sealth High School. She participated in a youth mentoring program called the Service Board, then partially under the tutelage of current ACLU-WA staff attorney La Rond Baker. With the Service Board, she attended many workshops about social justice issues including talks about individual rights, poverty, and immigration policy. In large part, this experience led her to seriously consider focusing on law reform as a career.
Her passion led her to take sociology and pre-law classes as an undergrad, and then to study abroad in Ecuador. She said Ecuador was an experience that put into perspective the kind of privilege we have as U.S. citizens and solidified her desire to continue her education by attending law school.
While in law school, Kelly has had the chance to work closely with the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Seattle Immigration Court, the Federal Public Defender, and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. She hopes to be able to continue working for justice as an impact litigation lawyer. “I want to help individual clients while at the same time making an impact for others in similar situations,” she explained.
In her free time, she leads an active life full of triathlon training, cooking, and traveling. And she sometimes wonders if it would be possible to be both an impact litigation lawyer and the owner of a brunch restaurant.
