Faculty & Program Team

Alanna Kroeker is the Compliance & Privacy Manager at Swedish Health Services in Seattle, WA. She received her JD from Loyola University Chicago School of Law with a certificate in Health Law and concentration in Healthcare Compliance. Since law school, Alanna has obtained certification by the Healthcare Compliance Association in Healthcare Compliance and Healthcare Privacy Compliance. Prior to her time at Swedish, Alanna served in various compliance/legal positions at a children’s hospital, academic medical center, specialty hospital, and a healthcare professional association.

Ali Higgs currently works at Compliance Services Group, LLC, in the role of Senior Compliance Consultant. In her role, Ali provides operational and regulatory compliance services to financial institutions including: trust companies, credit unions, banks, and non-depository institutions of all sizes.

Both as a lawyer and a regulator, Ali has extensive experience working in bank regulation and the financial services industry. Ali worked for the Washington Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) in various positions, including Chief of Regulatory and Trust Affairs, where she provided legal assistance and advice relating to bank and trust company matters.

Ali has presented at several continuing legal education seminars and has taught at professional trust schools, including the CSBS Trust Examination School. Ali has developed examiner training curriculum as well as developed curriculum for Seattle University’s Compliance and Risk Management L.L.M. program. Ali received both her B.A. in Business Administration and JD from Seattle University. She is a member of the Washington State Bar Association.

Christian Kennedy currently leads Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) at Wolfspeed, a global semiconductor company based in Durham, North Carolina. Serving as the Director of GRC for the Information Security organization, she is responsible for the development, implementation, and forward growth of the GRC program.

Christian has been a trusted communications, compliance, and risk management advisor across multiple regulated business areas, including semi-conductor, information technology, data governance, entertainment, and maritime, with extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries.

While completing her MLS in Compliance and Risk Management degree in 2022, Christian was awarded the Compliance With A Conscience Medal by the Seattle University School of Law. Christian completed her undergraduate studies at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communications at Washington State University and, in 2021, earned her Medical Device Regulation (MDR) certification from the British Standards Institution (BSI).

Christian and her husband are longtime supporters of The Special Olympics. She served on the Board of Directors for Dawg Squad, a canine rescue based in Inglewood, California, specializing in rehabilitating and adopting out medically challenged and hard-to-place breeds. Christian is also an active member of the Women’s Initiative and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) collectives at Wolfspeed.

Cynthia Scott is Senior Vice President and Internal Audit Manager at Seattle Bank, where she is committed to ensuring the integrity of their financial operations. She joined the team in 2020 to oversee the objective assessment of risk management activities and regulatory compliance, playing a crucial role in maintaining the bank’s reputation. With more than 25 years of industry expertise, Cindy brings valuable insights to her position, having most recently served as Vice President and Compliance Monitoring Officer for Heritage Bank. Her extensive experience encompasses not only streamlining quality control processes but also performing compliance monitoring and auditing, as well as managing home mortgage underwriting.

A dedicated professional, Cindy graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Washington, and she further enhanced her qualifications by earning her Master of Legal Studies in Compliance and Risk Management from Seattle University School of Law.

David Chen has over a decade of experience as a General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. David began his legal career in civil litigation representing employees and citizens in employment discrimination and police misconduct claims. After moving into a role as corporate counsel for a multi-national not-for-profit organization, David designed and implemented the organization’s compliance and ethics program, which covers more than 2,000 employees across 27 countries. He is passionate about social justice and serves on the boards of the Greater Seattle YMCA, Compass Housing Alliance, and the Seattle Sounders RAVE Foundation.

David lives in Shoreline, WA with his family including his three children. David volunteers his time with King County Legal Clinics and serves as pro-bono counsel to several not-for-profit organizations.

David received his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law. Read Faculty Spotlight Blog.

David Figueroa is the Executive Director, Enterprise Policy & Awareness, for the Ethics and Compliance program at Kaiser Permanente. David is the accountable executive for the Enterprise, National, and Regional policy services teams, Learning and Awareness activities, and the Ethics and Compliance Professional Development Program. His work centers around supporting the Kaiser Permanente community through effective policy process management, learning experiences, tools and consulting. His goal is to empower employees to be confident in their understanding of their roles, feel the psychological safety to speak up, and to create an ethical, authentic, and inclusive culture that fosters trust.

Prior to his role at Kaiser Permanente, David spent 6 years as a litigator handling both civil and criminal matters in California. David holds Juris Doctor and Master in Business Administration degrees from Temple University. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Frank DiMarino has served as an adjunct professor in law and legal studies for 22 years, with 14 years developing and teaching online graduate courses. At the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, he taught the investigation and prosecution of economic crimes.

He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for 18 years presenting cases before U.S. District and Appeals Courts prosecuting corporations and individuals for such crimes as wire and bank fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, and tax evasion. He also oversaw corporate compliance programs as part of criminal sentences under the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

While in the military, he served as an Army Judge Advocate General prosecutor. He also was a trial attorney at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission enforcing antifraud regulations against brokers and corporations.

As a government lawyer, he has litigated over 350 cases according to Westlaw Analytics. He has coauthored textbooks among which include An Introduction to Corporate and White Collar Crime.

Frank earned his LL.M. from George Washington University, his Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve School of Law, and his Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.

An avid boater with his U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license, he teaches harbor and open water boat maneuvering. Read Faculty Spotlight Blog.

Julie DiMauro is the Director of Compliance Programs and Training at Compliance Week with experience in the financial services regulatory compliance arena and as a creator of compliance training courses. She is a contributing editor for the FCPA Blog, co-chair of the corporate governance committee of the Financial Women’s Association, and a lecturer on third-party risk management at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business. She is the co-author of a textbook chapter on white-collar crime and a licensed attorney. She lives in New York City and is an avid runner and spin instructor. Read Faculty Spotlight Blog.

Linda J. Hiemer is the Managing Director at a consultancy that collaborates with federal and local law enforcement agencies on compliance, policy, and training matters. Recently, she served as the Program Administration Manager for Legal Education at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC). Before joining CJTC, Linda was the Senior Director of Graduate Programs at Seattle University. She has also held previous positions, including Director of Online Learning and Associate Professor of Law at Vermont Law School, Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of the Rockies, and Dean of Curriculum at Concord Law School.

Linda holds a B.A. in History (with Honors) from Lafayette College and a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State University. She began her legal career as an attorney in Alaska in 1992. Alongside her legal practice, she has dedicated over 20 years to designing, developing, assessing, teaching, and managing online, campus, and hybrid programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. When she’s not assisting students in achieving their academic and professional goals, Linda enjoys fly fishing for wild trout or hiking with her wife and their two leonbergers.

Mark Chinen is a Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law and a Fellow of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality. He was educated at Pomona College and Yale Divinity School before receiving his law degree from Harvard Law School. Before he began law teaching, Professor Chinen practiced in the areas of international trade, banking and corporate and securities law in Washington D.C. with the firm Covington & Burling. Professor Chinen teaches contracts and courses in international law and writes on various aspects of international law, particularly international governance, theology and international law, and the relationship between domestic and international law. He was the inaugural William C. Oltman Professor of Teaching Excellence from 2007 to 2010.

Melissa Racki teaches Introduction to the American Legal System at Seattle University School of Law. She specializes in legal writing and analysis, and has worked as an Assistant Dean, Adjunct Professor, and Advisor in 14 years as a legal educator. She practiced as a plaintiff’s attorney in Florida, representing clients with Social Security Disability, ERISA, personal injury, and workers’ compensation claims. She specialized in Social Security and ERISA administrative hearings and appeals, and assisted in the preparation of the ERISA course outline and materials taught at Stetson University College of Law. She also worked as a Social Security law clerk for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, drafting orders, and reports and recommendations for eight U.S. magistrates. She graduated cum laude from Stetson University College of Law and earned her Bachelor’s degree from University of Maryland – European Division. Melissa owns and operates a small online business selling hand knits and hand-spun yarns.

Stephanie Wilson is the head of Reference Services in the Seattle University School of Law Library. Prior to coming to Seattle University, Ms. Wilson was a reference librarian at Willkie, Farr and Gallagher, New York; a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Juvenile Rights Division in New York City; and an attorney in the Legal Counsel’s Office of New York City. She teaches legal research in numerous settings, including her own legal research course for upper division law students and her course for MLS students. Ms. Wilson frequently speaks at national conferences about integrating legal research instruction into existing experiential courses. She was an associate editor of Sexual Orientation and the Law: A Research Bibliography Selectively Annotating the Legal Literature Through 2005, published by Hein in 2006. Ms. Wilson joined the faculty in 2001.

Stephanie says, “SU Law faculty are deeply engaged in their areas of expertise and deeply committed to teaching. Their commitment allows our teaching to move past traditional legal education and instead integrate theory and doctrine with skills to teach law the way it is encountered in practice.”

Steven Reid is Senior Vice President and Internal Audit Manager at Seattle Bank, where she is committed to ensuring the integrity of their financial operations. She joined the team in 2020 to oversee the objective assessment of risk management activities and regulatory compliance, playing a crucial role in maintaining the bank’s reputation. With more than 25 years of industry expertise, Cindy brings valuable insights to her position, having most recently served as Vice President and Compliance Monitoring Officer for Heritage Bank. Her extensive experience encompasses not only streamlining quality control processes but also performing compliance monitoring and auditing, as well as managing home mortgage underwriting.

A dedicated professional, Cindy graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Washington, and she further enhanced her qualifications by earning her Master of Legal Studies in Compliance and Risk Management from Seattle University School of Law.

Tracy Kosa is a privacy advocate, practitioner and researcher. She’s currently a staff privacy engineer at Google, recently finished a post-doc at Stanford on predicting privacy regulation. Prior, Dr. Kosa ran the global privacy compliance program at Microsoft and served on the City of Seattle’s Privacy Advisory Committee. Originally from Canada, she focused on Canadian public sector privacy working in privacy across the Government of Ontario in education, health, social services while serving as a member for multiple groups and advisory committees, including the TAHSN research hospital network, the University of Toronto’s Research Ethics Board and Privacy Practitioners Community of Practice. She chaired the Program Advisory Committee for the Information Security diploma program for York University at Seneca College, taught Canadian political science labs at Ryerson University and information systems labs at UOIT.