Karen Pillar

Karen Pillar is the Director of Policy and Advocacy for TeamChild. TeamChild is a not-for-profit law firm for youth in Washington State. TeamChild’s mission is to uphold the rights of youth involved, or at risk of being involved, in the juvenile justice system to help them secure the education, healthcare, housing, and other support they need to achieve positive outcomes in their lives. TeamChild has won national recognition for its innovative efforts in bridging the gap between the juvenile justice system and the community to reduce reliance on incarceration of young people. Karen’s legal practice has focused on children’s rights, education law, child welfare, mental health, public benefits, and post-conviction relief. Karen has worked on policy issues at the local, state, and federal arenas for systems reform that serve youth, including child welfare, education, disability, mental health, and juvenile court. She has provided training for hundreds of lawyers and non lawyers on a variety of topics including education law, representing youth, the juvenile court process, public benefits for children, the history of child welfare policy and the school to prison pipeline. She received her BA from the University of Notre Dame. She received her law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in her hometown, Pittsburgh, PA.