Diane Prend ’16 was one of the first students to participate in BC Law’s new “BC in DC” program, where students spend a semester working full-time in Washington, DC. The program is coordinated by BC Law faculty member and alumna Christine Leonard ’01, stationed in the nation’s capital, whose 15 years of corporate and nonprofit experience include serving as director of legislative affairs at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, as senior counsel to Senator Ted Kennedy, and as director of the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs for the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Prend knew she wanted to work with the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice since her 2L year. “When I found out they offered full-time student clerk positions in DC, [BC Law externship director] Kate Devlin Joyce encouraged me to participate in the BC in DC program,” Prend says. “She had wonderful things to say about Christine Leonard and they are all true…Christine is a wonderful mentor and is so well connected in DC.”
Leonard introduced the BC in DC students to a number of very accomplished lawyers, and taught them how to get their feet in the door at just about any agency or firm in the city. “It was an invaluable experience,” Prend says. “I really enjoyed living in DC and am eager to return and pursue a career in environmental law with the federal government.”