Kathleen Rubenstein most recently served as the inaugural Visiting Fellow at Northeastern University School of Law's Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration and a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School, where she taught Professional Responsibility in Public Interest, Government, and Pro Bono Practice.
Rubenstein graduated with honors from University of Chicago Law School, where she received the Edwin F. Mandel Award for exceptional contributions to the school’s clinics. She was selected as a Skadden Fellow and completed her Fellowship at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law. After her Fellowship, she served as a federal judicial law clerk in the Northern District of Illinois.
Rubenstein went on to hold several positions in New York City government, including serving as deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Appointments and as deputy chief of staff and senior counsel for government policy for the New York City Law Department.
From 2018-2025, Rubenstein served as the executive director of the Skadden Foundation. The foundation was established in 1988 and has granted over 1,000 fellowships, through which attorneys begin their careers working in public interest on a full-time basis for two years. Skadden Fellows address a broad range of civil legal services to people living in poverty in the U.S., and the vast majority devote their entire careers to public interest. The foundation, under Rubenstein's leadership, provided innovative support to the entire community of 1,000 Fellows.
Rubenstein is a 2021 graduate of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice’s Core Program, from which she received a certificate in Social Impact Management and Leadership. She also was a 2025-26 participant in the Haywood Burns Institute’s James Bell Racial Justice and Structural Well-Being Certificate Training Series. She serves on the boards of directors of the Advocacy Institute and Nonprofit New York. Rubenstein is admitted to practice law in New York State.