Betsy Fordyce, Esq., Staff Attorney

Betsy Fordyce has more than eight years of experience working with children and families who struggle with issues of domestic violence, homelessness, abuse and neglect. She has a special interest in the educational needs of foster children and engaging in appellate advocacy. Ms. Fordyce’s professional background also includes working with Project SafeGuard, Gateway Battered Women’s Services, and a transitional housing program in Massachusetts as a children’s advocate.

Ms. Fordyce earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Notre Dame, and a Juris Doctorate degree from Villanova University School of Law, where she graduated first in her class. Ms. Fordyce first joined the Children’s Law Center staff in 2006 as a Bergstrom Child Law Fellow. After graduation, she served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey of the Colorado Supreme Court. Ms. Fordyce returned to the Children’s Law Center in 2008 to represent children in dependency and neglect cases. Additionally, she is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver, instructing 2nd and 3rd year law students through the Sturm College of Law Child Advocacy Practicum.

In 2011, Ms. Fordyce was chosen by the National Association of Counsel for Children as the recipient of the Stephen Cahn Outstanding Young Lawyer Award. This award is given to a lawyer who has been in practice for five years or less and who has made significant contributions to the well being of children through legal representation or other advocacy efforts.