Menu
ELEVATE is Schenk & Bruetsch’s practice group providing legal services in all vital practice areas to women business professionals (entrepreneurs, executives, and human resources personnel). This practice group is led by Schenk & Bruetsch partners Lindsey Johnson and Jill Ferrari, both with a client-centered approach to empower women in business and personal legal matters.
 |  |
Through ELEVATE, Schenk & Bruetsch provides exceptional legal and advisory services to women business clients and individuals, fostering empowerment, equality, and success through a comprehensive understanding of these areas of law:
Client Service and Community Involvement: ELEVATE members lead key firm practice areas and are recognized for their thought-leadership and community contributions. ELEVATE members have taken leadership roles in the following nonprofit organizations with female-centric programs and services:
We’re proud to introduce the Advisory Board for ELEVATE. Our Advisory Board brings together a diverse group of accomplished women leaders across industries, each offering insight shaped by experience at the highest levels of decision-making. Their perspectives strengthen ELEVATE’s mission by ensuring our work remains practical, forward-looking, and deeply aligned with the realities women face as leaders and builders.
Renee Pipis Axt is the founder and President of RCP Associates, LLC. and SOSWorks, both headquartered in Detroit. She is solution-driven and has demonstrated experience in both the public and private sectors, including leadership positions within the Wayne County Executive’s Office and the Wayne County Airport Authority Board.
Renee has worked extensively in nonprofit, government, and event management, budgeting, grassroots organizing, and economic development.
She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has served with several other boards and organizations in Southeast Michigan.
Kristina Graham has been with Edward Jones since 2018. A graduate of Michigan State University, Kristina serves clients who are accumulating wealth with the intent to achieve their specific financial goals.
She also works with many folks who find themselves suddenly single through divorce or being widowed the loss of a spouse to plan for a new path forward. She holds the CFP ® designation and is married with two elementary age boys and two labrador retrievers.
She enjoys the outdoors, cooking, working out, and rooting for the Detroit Lions and Michigan State.
Melissa Milton-Pung is a Policy Research Labs Program Manager at the Michigan Municipal League.
She is a certified Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP), sits on the Urban Land Institute Michigan Housing Product Council, has been Adjunct Faculty in the Graduate Program for Historic Preservation at Eastern Michigan University, is an alumna of the American Council on Germany Sustainable Urban Development Exchange, and is the Board President of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network.
She is also the co-author of Pattern Book Homes for 21st Century Michigan, Volumes I & II. Melissa carries with her more than two decades’ worth of stories from work in consulting and local government, with substantial expertise in place-based economic development.
She lives in Ann Arbor, MI with her husband Barnaby and two children, all of whom share the family obsession of finding hidden treasures at estate sales.
With a mission-driven, service-centered approach, Maureen has spent more than 30 years leading advocacy, changemaking, and transformational initiatives across the public and nonprofit sectors. Known as an innovative problem solver and trusted leader, she has built coalitions, forged cross-sector partnerships, and executed strategic plans that deliver sustainable outcomes.
Maureen began her career as a teacher in Detroit Public Schools before entering public service, holding senior leadership roles in Detroit, Indianapolis, and Wayne County, where she developed award-winning strategic initiatives. She later served as a Michigan State Representative, advancing bipartisan legislation focused on public safety, technology access, and community well-being.
Alongside public service, Maureen built a successful consulting practice supporting government and nonprofit organizations nationwide. She later returned to full-time mission-driven leadership as Executive Director of CelebrateOne in Columbus, leading efforts to reduce Black infant mortality, and as Interim Executive Director of Midtown Detroit, guiding organizational transformation. Most recently, she directed the 2025 mayoral campaign of Saunteel Jenkins, leading strategy, partnerships, and outreach efforts.
Maureen earned her Master of Organizational Development and Change from Bowling Green State University and her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Howard University. She is a proud graduate of Michigan State University’s bipartisan Michigan Political Leadership Program. Maureen is a lifetime member of The Links, Incorporated, where she served as President of the Great Lakes chapter, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, where she has been actively involved at the international level in driving social action. Maureen contributed her talents as a Board member for Southside Thrive Collaborative, Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan, Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Detroit Public Lighting Authority.
Lindsey Johnson and Jill Ferrari have been named 2026 Crain's Detroit Business Notable Women in Law — and the recognition reflects more than individual achievement. It highlights the intentional work behind building the ELEVATE Practice Group to serve female founders and female executives across Michigan and beyond.
ELEVATE was created with a clear purpose:
To ensure women leading companies have sophisticated legal counsel that understands not only the law — but the realities of scaling, capital raising, governance, and executive leadership.
Too often, women founders and C-suite leaders are navigating:
• Capital raises and investor negotiations
• Complex governance and control issues
• Strategic growth decisions
• Employment and leadership risk
• Exit planning
— without a legal team built around their specific trajectory.
ELEVATE was designed to change that.
This recognition from Crain's Detroit Business affirms the importance of building practice groups that are intentional, strategic, and deeply aligned with the clients they serve.
To the female founders raising their first round.
To the women executives stepping into the CEO seat.
To the leaders negotiating equity, control, and legacy.
You deserve counsel that sees the full scope of your ambition.
Congratulations to Lindsey and Jill — and gratitude to the clients and community who trust us to walk alongside them.
Located in Downtown Detroit.
Click for Garage/Parking Details
© 2026 Schenk & Bruetsch PLC
Legal Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
Law Firm Website Design by The Modern Firm