As a corporate attorney for Caterpillar Inc.’s Legal Services Division, Johna Gabrielle Rollet is primarily responsible for issues related to employee health and safety, but also manages issues related to data privacy and corporate sustainability. When she first joined the company, Rollet managed Caterpillar’s employment and benefits litigation and assisted with the implementation of its Performance Management System and the transformation of the enterprise HR function to a shared services model.

In 2006, the division was challenged to create a formal pro bono program so lawyers and staff could provide services in the communities in which Caterpillar had legal offices. Rollet began providing pro bono services as soon as the program was formalized, representing individual clients seeking orders of protection under the Illinois Violence Against Women Act, simple divorces, preparation of basic wills and powers of attorney, and assistance with matters of child custody and visitation.

Rollet was later asked to join the Legal Services Division’s pro bono committee and coordinate the division’s Chicago-area pro bono legal clinics on behalf of Wills for Heroes, the Community Economic Law Development Program, and the National Immigrant Justice Foundation. This year, she assumed the position of chair of the committee and became a member of Caterpillar Legal Services Division’s National Pro Bono Steering Committee.

In addition to her formal pro bono work, Rollet continually volunteers her time to mentor others within her profession. She has presented to paralegal college classes and undergraduate economics students, and judged moot court at various law schools and undergraduate mock trials at annual competitions.

Since moving to Peoria in 2000, Rollet has found many meaningful ways to serve the local community. She has volunteered with Crittenton Centers, Dress for Success, The Center for Prevention of Abuse, Easter Seals Auxiliary, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the Heritage Ensemble and Central Illinois Riding Therapy. Rollet joined the board of Crittenton Centers in 2007, was nominated vice president in 2008, and became president this year. She is also a graduate of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership School. iBi