Megan Degeneffe Badgers For Good

November 2014

Megan Degeneffe’s path to UNAC/UHCP may not have been a straight line, but looking back it seems somewhat inevitable. With one aunt a longtime ER nurse, three registered nurse cousins, and a fourth in nursing school, the connection to nurses and health care professionals is all in the family. After college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Degeneffe went to work in the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance where she worked to regulate insurance companies.

For a time, her path zigged as she moved to San Francisco and worked on water conservation for the city. From afar, she watched Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker dismantle progress made on health care reform and push through Act 10, the legislation that purported to repair the Wisconsin state budget but in reality took away most collective bargaining rights for public sector workers.

Degeneffe enrolled in Georgetown University Law Center intent on a career in public interest. She spent a summer at a top DC law firm and chaired her school’s student organization for those interested in public interest careers.

“The media says unions are disappearing. Being at UNAC/UHCP gives me hope for the future of unions and our country,” says Degeneffe, who started a one year fellowship with UNAC/UHCP’s legal department in September.