Cayley Balser has worked with i4J since Fall 2020 and has experience working in all three of i4J’s impact areas. As the Service Impact Area Lead at i4J, Cayley’s role is to implement and teach trauma-informed, community-engaged, project-based courses centered on applying design- and systems-thinking research methodology to unauthorized practice of law (UPL) reform initiatives. Through this work, Cayley connects with community members, plans and oversees interviews, and works with students on qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and synthesis.
Her multidisciplinary research interests focus on access to and integration of trauma-informed approaches within legal education and services. She is indebted to the community members who share their time, lived-experience expertise, and energy with her to make this research and work possible. Cayley earned her J.D. from the University of Arizona College of Law in May 2022, graduating Cum Laude and receiving the Hon. Earl H. Carroll Public Service Award, and is a licensed attorney in the state of Arizona.
Prior to law school, Cayley earned Master in Education (M.Ed.) and Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degrees in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Florida and is a National Certified Counselor (NCC). Her area of focus as a clinician was suicide prevention, trauma, and substance use. She designed and implemented intervention programs on various scales and presented her work at regional and national conferences. She attended Clemson University where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and earned a B.A. in Psychology.