Professional Development & Office of Career Strategy Staff

Kristin L. Archibald, Esq.
Director of Career Strategy and Recruitment
610-519-7032
Office: 216
Email

Kristin L. Archibald, Esq. '01 joined the Career Strategy Office after practicing law for five years in the Philadelphia region. As director of recruitment, Kristin has primary responsibility for the Law School's year-round recruitment programs. She works closely with our employer community to expand and maintain high-quality student recruiting programs and job fairs, as well as markets Villanova Law to the legal community. Kristin counsels students in individual sessions and group education programs on the whole spectrum of career planning concerns. Kristin brings a wealth of recruiting, marketing, and mentoring experience to her role as director of recruitment. While in private law practice, Kristin was active in client development and mentoring junior attorneys and staff. She has also gained valuable experience outside of the traditional practice of law through her management and recruitment positions. Through her previous positions, she has honed her skills in marketing, managing and preparing candidates in their career strategies. 

Julia C. Moscato Besselman, MEd
Director of Professional Development and Leadership
610-519-7281
Office: 220
Email

Julia Moscato Besselman joins us from the University of Delaware, where she was the assistant director of student success and employer relations. At UD, she developed and implemented a professional development and leadership program for over 500+ student-athletes. During her time at Delaware, Julia also launched the department’s first alumni mentoring program, oversaw all employer relations efforts, and advised student organizations, including the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. While earning her master's in higher education administration from Penn State University in 2019, she served as the programming graduate assistant in career services. She received her BS from Penn State University.

Sharon Buckingham, Esq.
Associate Director of Career Strategy (Public Interest)
610-519-3865
Office: 217
Email

Sharon Buckingham, Esq. ’85 works with students and alumni on all aspects of career strategy, and she also focuses specifically on public interest/public service careers and judicial clerkships.  She joined the Office of Career Strategy in 2014 after a career that included a wide range of experience in the legal profession. Sharon practiced as a litigation attorney for six years with Pepper Hamilton & Scheetz, where she chaired the Summer Associates Committee and was very involved in the firm’s recruiting efforts. Her interaction with law students led her to leave practice to teach Legal Writing at Villanova Law and later to return to Pepper Hamilton to assume a unique leadership role in the firm’s talent management program, first as the firm-wide director of recruitment and professional programs and later as the firm’s first director of associate development. Sharon also has consulted with law firms as a private legal writing instructor, and she has been a guest presenter on various topics, including interviewing and succeeding in legal employment, at the NALP Conference and at other law schools. She was the 2021-2022 Chair of NALP’s Public Service Section, and she serves on the Regional Leadership Council for the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Ashanti M. Crawford, Esq.
Assistant Dean for Career Strategy and Advancement
610-519-5738
Office: 215
Email

Ashanti M. Crawford, Esq. ’10 joined the Office of Career Strategy and Advancement after serving as the co-lead of Student Recruiting Initiatives and manager of Legal Talent Recruiting for the mid-Atlantic offices of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, a national law firm. She began her legal career by spending her 1L and 2L summers and the first three years following graduation from Villanova Law as a general commercial litigation associate at White and Williams LLP, a large regional law firm. She also spent time as an attorney search director, where she placed attorneys into lateral associate, partner, and in-house counsel positions, thus rounding out her extensive experience in attorney recruiting and hiring. Ashanti has also demonstrated unwavering commitment to Villanova Law through her membership and past and current leadership of the executive boards of the Villanova Law Alumni Association, the Minority Alumni Society, and the J. Willard O’Brien American Inns of Court, as well as serving as a founding member of the Villanova Law Women’s Network. Ashanti is a native of Texas and earned her BA from Duke University.

Amelia E. Curotto, Esq.
Associate Director of Employer Outreach
610-519-7646
Office: 209
Email

Amelia E. Curotto, Esq. ’17 serves as the liaison between employers and Villanova Law, managing employer relationships and marketing students and alumni to new employment opportunities. After graduating from Villanova Law, Amelia clerked for the Honorable Richard F. Wells in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Camden Vicinage. Following her clerkship, she practiced as a healthcare litigation attorney for over four years at Burns White. While in private practice, she was a mentor for incoming associates and law clerks and was active in developing training programs. Amelia’s interest in being an ambassador for the Villanova Law experience began while she was a student, serving as editor-in-chief of Volume XXIV of the Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal and a member of the 3L Legacy Committee in 2016-2017. She earned her BA in history with a minor in Italian from Providence College.

Taylor Gray
Career Program Assistant
610-519-7030
Office: 208
Email

Taylor Gray is the career program assistant in the Office of Career Strategy and Advancement. Taylor assists the law school counselors and students with professional opportunities and handles the office’s administrative tasks. Prior to joining Villanova Law, she worked for Eastern University in the Career Development Office. Taylor also earned her bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Eastern and now is studying at Villanova to earn her master’s in political science with a concentration in gender studies. 

Jennifer A. Henfey, Esq.
Associate Dean for Professional Development and Leadership
610-519-7031
Office: 214
Email

Jennifer A. Henfey, Esq. '99 joined the Office of Career Strategy and Advancement after practicing law for twelve years at Blank Rome LLP, an international law firm in Philadelphia. Following graduation from Villanova Law, she joined Blank Rome as an associate in the financial services practice group and was elevated to partner in 2008. Jennifer has extensive experience in hiring and recruiting. While in private practice, she chaired the firm's recruiting and retention committee and served as the firm's hiring partner. In addition, she was a member of the firm's Philadelphia recruiting and retention committee from 2001 to 2011 and served as a co-chair of the firm's summer program from 2003 through 2005. Jennifer is an active member of the National Association for Law Placement, having served as the vice president for finance and on the Board of Directors, Nominating Committee, Conference Planning team, and Regional Resource Council. 

Janine Dunlap Kiah
Director for Public Service and Pro Bono Initiatives 
610-519-3908
Office: 219
Email

Janine Dunlap Kiah joined the faculty and staff in July 2022. She she is the inaugural director for public service and pro bono initiatives and serves as adjunct faculty, teaching Public Interest Lawyering. In this role, she is excited to cultivate external partnerships to create opportunities for student exposure and involvement in public interest and pro bono work. Before returning to her beloved alma mater in this role, Janine served as the director for Pursuing Justice for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Pennsylvania Project at SeniorLAW Center, a 40+ year legal aid organization based in Philadelphia. In this role, she managed a statewide initiative poised to increase access to legal representation, education, and resources to grandparents who become primary caretakers of minors due to parental absenteeism. She was responsible for the oversight and execution of a project budget in excess of $1M, which was primarily federally funded. Janine also practiced family law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey beginning in 2007, the year she earned her JD from Villanova. She earned her BA in vocal music at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey and continues to enjoy a professional singing career as well.

Maria Renee McKinney, Esq.
Associate Director of Career Strategy
610-519-7228
Office: 218
Email

Maria Renee McKinney is an associate director of career strategy. In this role, she counsels students and alumni on all aspects of career planning.  Maria Renee previously worked in the Office of Career Strategy from 2014 to 2018 as associate director of employer outreach and rejoined the team in the fall of 2024.  She began her career at Baker Donelson in the Nashville, TN office, where she was an associate in the real estate group. She then moved to the Philadelphia area, where she practiced in the real estate group at Blank Rome LLP before practicing in-house at Longview Property Group. Maria Renee is a graduate of Vanderbilt Law School and Princeton University.