Alumni success
Showcasing contributions and achievements from our ICM Fellows.
Celebrating our 54th class
Congratulations to our newest Institute for Court Management (ICM) Fellows who graduated in July 2025 during a ceremony at the U.S. Supreme Court. This cohort represents 10 states, including four ICM Fellows from the North Dakota Courts. For many, this achievement was years in the making – in addition to more than 16 months of coursework, a short residency in Williamsburg, a supervised research project and court improvement plan, and a final presentation.
| Alison J. Braaten, North Dakota | Kelly A. Luhrs, Minnesota |
| Michele L. Bring, North Dakota | Vikki R. Lyons, Ohio |
| Bryan M. Farrell, Washington | Jennifer Medina, California |
| Kristin T. Grossnickle, Maryland | Ernest M. Montoya, California |
| Carrie L. Hjellming, North Dakota | Joy Shea, New Jersey |
| Jackie M. Keller, North Dakota | Kelly C. Steele, Florida |
| Gloria Lewis, Maryland | Constance R. White, Washington |
| Heidi A. Lofgren, Arizona | Amy Willert, Minnesota |
Award of Merit
A member of each graduating class is chosen for the Award of Merit for Applied Research. This year, the distinction went to Amy Willert, court administrator for the Pine County District Court in Minnesota.
Her paper, "Finding the Balance: Tribal Involvement in Minnesota Children in Need of Protective Services Cases," explored ways to address the needs of American Indian children in state and tribal courts. She discovered there were differences in Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) cases and non-ICWA cases, with major differences being a higher number of days out of home, higher number of hearings, and a lower likelihood for family reunification in ICWA cases.
Recommendations arising from her research included improving access to treatment providers for mental health and substance abuse, increasing the number of social workers, improving the engagement of judges and court staff to ensure timeliness of cases, and implementing alternative approaches such as family dependency courts.
Recognizing alumni excellence
Our latest ICM Fellows Star Award recipient is Jeff Schrade of the Arizona Supreme Court Administrative Office of the Courts. This award honors an ICM Fellow who demonstrates excellence in the advancement of court administration through leadership and education. As education services director, Schrade provided leadership on statewide judicial branch education initiatives for more than 10,000 judicial officers, probation officers, and employees. Earlier this year, he took on a new role as deputy director of the AOC.
Discover your future success
Take the next step in your court administration journey by joining our network of more than 1,300 alumni across the country and the world.
