Demetra Estephana Koelling teaches Employment Law as well as Human Resource Management online for the MSLA program. Ms. Koelling was graduated with honors from McMurry University in Abilene, Texas with a double major in Spanish and Religion. After college, she served a two year tour as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Ecuador. Ms. Koelling is a December 1989 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. She then served as a law clerk for the Honorable Emilio M. Garza, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. She is licensed to practice law in the state of Colorado (2007) and in Texas (1990) and is certified as a labor and employment law specialist by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Ms. Koelling received a certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the Human Resource Certification Institute in 2001.

Ms. Koelling has held executive roles in major corporations handling labor and employment matters. She served as employment counsel with Sears, Roebuck and Co. handling employment litigation and labor relations matters in Puerto Rico. Ms. Koelling developed diversity strategies and affirmative action programs for U.S. Cellular. Ms. Koelling was an executive with The Boeing Co. directing implementation of a ‘first of its kind’ national settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor dealing with affirmative action processes in hiring, promotion and compensation. Additionally, Ms. Koelling served as Senior Vice President for Labor and Employment with Clear Channel Communications leading all employment-related legal matters and litigation and human resource functions including employment practices, labor relations, HRIS, benefits and compensation. Ms. Koelling is bilingual and has developed and delivered employment law training in English and Spanish throughout her career. In her early career as an employment litigator, Ms. Koelling tried to verdict employment discrimination matters as well as a complex workers compensation insurance fraud case.

Ms. Koelling has been active in the communities in which she has lived. In the Denver community, Ms. Koelling advocates for day laborers in the City of Aurora and handles, as pro bono counsel, numerous cases with the legal clinic at El Centro Humanitario Para Los Trabajadores. Ms. Koelling is a founding member and first president of the Chicagoland Business Leadership Network, an employer coalition dedicated to the employment of people with disabilities. She has been an active leader in the Bar. She was a member of the San Antonio Mexican American Bar Association and is past president of the Bexar County Women’s Bar Association and the statewide Texas Women lawyers.