Alumna Used Academic Experiences to Discover Passion and Pursue Civil Rights Work

Human Rights Program (HRP): Where are you currently working and how long have you been working there? What type of projects/tasks do you work on? Are you doing any outside volunteer/community work?

Kaela McConnon (KM): I am a licensed attorney and an investigator with the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department’s Complainant Investigations Division. In that role, I investigate claims of discrimination in the city of Minneapolis. We often work on cases of alleged discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodation, among other contexts. In addition to working on individual cases and claims, I work on larger scale projects around discrimination with the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission, a group of appointed volunteers who work in tandem with our office. For example, we are currently working on a project looking at gender disparity in the Minneapolis police force. I have worked in this role for almost a year, and I also previously worked for the Civil Rights Department’s Office of Police Conduct Review for two years while I was in law school.

In addition to my work with the Civil Rights Department, I volunteer with the Minnesota Public Defender, representing clients at supervised-release hearings. I also plan to volunteer on asylum cases for the Advocates for Human Rights in the coming months.

HRP: How do you see your academic experiences playing out in your life today? Were there particular courses/experiences that motivated you and/or prepared you for the work you are currently doing?

KM: As early as my first year in undergrad, I knew that I wanted to do human and civil rights work.  I knew that I had to be passionate about the work I do everyday, and to believe that work was making a positive difference in the world. I used my academic experiences and opportunities to gain the tools and skills I needed to do that work.

Taking International Human Rights Law as an undergrad at the University of Minnesota was a defining moment, as it combined my passion for human rights with the study of law and sparked my interest to be a lawyer.  I also studied abroad during my undergrad, with Minnesota Studies in International Development in Senegal. This broadened my interest in international civil and human rights work, and inspired me to work abroad in Senegal after I completed my undergraduate degree. 

I attended Mitchell Hamline Law School, where I appreciated the focus on practical legal skills. Trial advocacy classes helped me prepare for the work of real lawyering, as did externships and legal residency courses that allowed me to gain valuable on-the-job experience. For instance, in my last semester of law school I completed a legal residency program where I got academic credit for working close to full-time with the Minnesota Public Defender—representing clients in criminal appeals, as well as in supervised-release hearings. This was instrumental in allowing me to go out into the professional world with the skills I needed to do my first full-time legal job.

HRP: What have been some of the biggest learning moments and takeaways for you both in your academics and your work?

KM: I’ve learned that sometimes you really need a tool or a skill to effectively do a job and it’s intimidating if you don’t feel you have it when you start out. But skills can be learned, and instead of being intimidated and maybe even giving up, you can dedicate time and effort to improve. A great example of where I learned this most was when I arrived in Senegal for a job following undergrad and realized I would need much better Wolof language skills than I thought to do the job. It was daunting but with time, effort and dedication I was able to get my language skills to a place where I could be successful. I applied that same perspective to this current position with the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department—I came in with a background in criminal and international human rights law, but I needed skills and knowledge in employment and housing law. But I was able to jump in and learn the skills I needed. I guess this is all to say, I learned it is worth taking risks, trying new things, and pushing yourself to be better.

Another key takeaway from my academic and work experience is that I am convinced that I will always do public interest work. This is what drives me, helps me wake up in the morning and makes me engage with the work I do every day.