[Rachael] plans to...continue her efforts to make government and the justice system more equitable and responsive to the needs of its citizens​.

Rachael Zuppke is a master’s student in information at the University of Michigan, where she is driven by a passion for civic technology and social justice. With an undergraduate degree from the Penny Stamps School of Art & Design, Rachael’s early career included roles such as artist relations coordinator for the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair and director of partnership and community engagement at Project Onward in Chicago, an organization supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental illness. These experiences deepened her commitment to community impact and ignited her interest in addressing social inequities.

After returning to Ann Arbor, Rachael spent six years working at Legal Services of South Central Michigan, where she supported low-income clients to defend against eviction, maintain food assistance and health insurance, and contest disability benefit overpayments and cessations. Her work at Legal Services revealed that many of the issues her clients faced were not legal problems, but rather information and systems issues, such as difficulties accessing necessary paperwork or understanding application processes. This realization led Rachael to pursue graduate studies in user-experience research, where she aims to learn mixed-methods approaches to complex problem solving that merge data and technology with human experience.

In her master’s program, Rachael has distinguished herself with a 4.0 GPA and received prestigious awards, including a Dow Sustainability Fellowship and an Anti-Racist Digital Research Institute grant. She is currently conducting research on eviction court forms and processes, a project that exemplifies her dedication to leveraging user-experience research for social good.

Rachael’s long-term goal is to champion court reform as the next frontier in civic technology, with an emphasis on reducing administrative burdens. She plans to work with organizations where she can continue her efforts to make government and the justice system more equitable and responsive to the needs of its citizens​.

CEW+ celebrates Rachael’s love for her community and names her the Janice F. Stephens Memorial Scholar.