Chelsea Donaldson

Supervising Attorney at the Veterans Benefits and Military Unit

Chelsea Donaldson is a Supervising Attorney at the Veterans Benefits and Military Unit at the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center. The center supports veterans with severe mental health diagnoses to access health care and other needed services. Donaldson’s most recent advocacy work includes authoring testimony in support of the rights of incarcerated people and working to expand access to health care for veterans wrongfully discharged with “bad paper.”

Donaldson began her career at Connecticut Veterans Legal Center as a Connecticut Bar Foundation Singer Fellow representing survivors of military sexual trauma in Veterans Administration benefits cases. Prior to her Singer Fellowship, she worked as clerk for the Connecticut Judicial Branch. Her graduate career includes clinical experience as a social worker for incarcerated people reintegrating into society. She earned her JD, cum laude, from Western New England University School of Law and her MSW from Springfield College. She is admitted to the Connecticut State Bar and Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims. She is also a licensed master social worker through the State of Connecticut.