Mackenzie helps colleges, universities, and K-12 schools navigate regulatory challenges and investigations in an ever-changing education landscape, enabling institutional leaders to remain focused on serving students and advancing their educational mission.
She advises public and private institutions on a range of regulatory issues and often works with leadership on day-to-day legal and strategic matters. Mackenzie prepares, reviews, and updates policies to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, including Title IX, Section 504, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Clery Act, the Higher Education Act, accreditation standards, and evolving legal expectations. She also prepares trainings for institutions and guides clients through obligations from the U.S. Department of Education, state agencies, and accreditors in areas such as student data privacy, federal student aid programs, nondiscrimination, First Amendment issues, campus safety, and change in ownership transactions.
Mackenzie also manages sensitive investigations, frequently serving as an investigator in matters involving Title IX, student or employee complaints, discrimination, and retaliation, ensuring a fair, thorough process for all parties. When agency inquiries arise, she collaborates across the firm’s national platform to provide strategic guidance and practical solutions.
Before joining the firm, Mackenzie taught students of diverse abilities and backgrounds at a public charter school in Kansas City and served as a Teach for America Corps member. With firsthand insight into the challenges educators face, she brings an approachable, responsive, and creative approach to problem-solving. She works collaboratively with clients, listening closely to their goals and examining each matter with care to provide thoughtful, value-added counsel.