Meet 2L Allison Kratz: Miss Maryland United States 2018 and a Passionate Advocate for Sexual Abuse Victims
Allison Kratz ’18 is a second year law student at American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL). Initially a Neuroscience and Biology major with a pre-med focus during her undergraduate studies, Kratz developed a passion for empowering survivors of sexual assault. During her time at Ursinus College, Allison worked closely with the Title IX coordinator to plan and carry out three educational and prevention campaigns on campus sexual assault.
After engaging over 75 percent of her school community and seeing an increase in reporting rates surrounding campus sexual assault, Kratz decided to pursue her goal of eradicating sexual assault on campus by attending law school. After joining AUWCL, Kratz began an internship at Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN), the largest national non-profit organization to end sexual violence. Her work in the organization’s policy department gave her an opportunity to attend Congressional hearings and meetings, and gave her an insight into the cutting edge topics on gender based violence and advocacy training.
Kratz has also worked with Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment (PAVE), a nonprofit organization that works to prevent sexual violence through education, social advocacy and healing for survivors. As ambassador, Kratz has spoken to high school students about consent and healthy relationships. She has formerly worked with community shelters to help women who have experienced abuse and sexual assault.
This experience has allowed her to start her own platform: “From Pain to Power,” which she uses as an opportunity to empower sexual assault survivors to reclaim their personal power after a traumatic experience. The platform also educates the community on consent, healthy relationships, forming boundaries, and bystander intervention. To date, she has spoken with over 20,000 students.
Kratz plans to continue her work with sexual assault survivors as the reigning Miss Maryland United States 2018. Having been selected in March 2018, she is looking forward to partnering with Maryland rape crisis centers and women’s shelters to best serve and empower survivors. Kratz will go on to represent Maryland at the Miss United States national competition in Orlando, Florida this July.
Set to graduate in December 2018, Kratz plans to combine her passion for science with law as a patent prosecution attorney after law school.
###