About Kristi Disney
Kristi Disney Bruckner combines legal training in international and natural resources law with years of work on mining standards and environmental policy. She holds a J.D. and LL.M. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where she studied international law and natural resources law and later worked as a research assistant on international and comparative environmental law. Earlier she completed undergraduate studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, earning a degree in social work with minors in economics and journalism.
Her professional path moves between academia, program work and policy advising. After law school she remained connected to the University of Denver through research roles. She taught as an adjunct professor at the Sturm College of Law in 2014 and served as a program lawyer for CLE International in 2015. Those positions combined course planning, curriculum development and legal analysis for audiences outside the academy. In 2021 she was listed as Senior Policy Advisor for the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance. The same year she worked as a consultant for the Sustainable Development Strategies Group.
Her practice sits at the intersection of environmental regulation, corporate accountability and standards-setting for extractive industries. She has worked on legal and policy issues tied to responsible mining assurance. That has involved drafting guidance, advising governance bodies and reviewing compliance frameworks. The work often requires translating technical environmental concerns into clear legal terms and then feeding those into multi-stakeholder processes. Teaching and program roles have also put her in positions that require explaining complex regulatory topics to lawyers, regulators and industry representatives.
Bruckner is a member of the Colorado State Bar and has maintained that membership since 2012. In recent years she has gravitated toward roles that combine policy development, capacity building and standard-setting. She has moved between consulting engagements and organizational roles, applying legal analysis to questions of corporate practice, human rights risk and environmental stewardship. She currently holds an office with the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance and continues to work on legal and policy issues connected to responsible mining and sustainable development, concentrating her practice on standards, governance and compliance in the mining sector.
