About Grace DeStefano
Grace DeStefano is a Cornell University freshman pursuing a major in Industrial and Labor Relations with a minor in Business. A graduate of The Winsor School in Boston, Grace demonstrated academic excellence and leadership throughout high school. She was Captain of the Varsity Soccer team and was a three-season varsity athlete, showcasing her commitment to teamwork and leadership. Outside of athletics, Grace served as Treasurer and President of Winsor’s Speech and Debate Club during her junior and senior years. Grace was chosen by her school’s Wellness Committee as a Peer Mentor for lower school students seeking support. She valued community engagement and wrote for her high school newspaper, The Banner, for all four years. Grace demonstrated a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. In 2022, she was selected to represent her school at the esteemed NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Beyond her school activities, Grace spent the past four summers working for Debate Camp, an international camp based in Canada. In the Summer of 2024, she became one of the youngest Assistant Camp Directors in the organization’s history, where she played a critical role in interviewing candidates, reviewing resumes, designing the curriculum, and instructing and coaching students in parliamentary debate and public speaking. Her experience further honed her leadership skills and deepened her passion for fostering public speaking and debate talent in youth.
Grace remains an active leader at Cornell and is involved in several campus organizations. She is Treasurer of the Community Partnership Funding Board, a program that is part of Cornell’s Einhorn Center for Community Engagement. As treasurer, she oversees budget tracking for community service and social justice project grants totaling over $30,000 per semester. Grace analyzes grant applications, conducts interviews, and collaborates with the Einhorn Center to optimize funding decisions and maintain fiscal sustainability. She deeply enjoys working directly with grantees and community partners to support their initiatives and give back to the Ithaca community. Grace is also a member of Cornell’s premier professional pre-law fraternity, Kappa Alpha Pi. She has a passion for the legal profession. She is currently going through the fraternity’s New Member Education Process, which includes weekly debates, resume workshops, public speaking workshops, presentation workshops, career panels, alumni panels, mock trials, and weekly coffee chats with brothers..
Grace is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive community at Cornell. She was elected to represent the Cornell Class of 2028 on Cornell Class Councils and is a member of the ILR Women’s Caucus. On Class Councils, Graces plans free and creative events open for all Cornell students. In the ILR Women’s Caucus, she collaborates with peers to foster a supportive community for women at the ILR School through regular meetings and engagement initiatives.
Grace’s practice areas of interest are compliance and privacy policy matters, where she will assist in navigating regulatory requirements and data protection laws. She will gain experience in drafting and reviewing privacy policies, ensuring businesses align with legal standards, and advising on compliance strategies to mitigate risk.