Courtni Burleson

Director of Foundation Relations and Legal Academy

She/her


Courtni Burleson is the Senior Foundation Relations Manager at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Before joining AU, Courtni spent five years leading the grants program at the American Constitution Society. Previously, she held positions at the D.C. Sentencing Commission and Vera Institute of Justice to support criminal justice policy efforts, and worked as a freelance editor, collaborating on both fiction and non-fiction projects. Courtni began her career as an attorney and has worked in public defender offices in Washington, D.C., California and New York.

Courtni received her Juris Doctor from University of California Berkeley School of Law, and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in justice, law & society from American University. While at Berkeley, she was the editor-in-chief of the African American Law & Policy Report and is a former co-chair, board member and fellowship coordinator for the Berkeley Law Foundation.

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