She quickly earned a reputation for being a tenacious litigator, successfully prosecuting a number of prominent white-collar crime and consumer fraud cases. She also prosecuted the state's first case under the federal Violence Against Women Act, and the first case involving the federal anti-church burning law. Later, she became a federal public defender for death row inmates.
In the 1990s, as some Eastern European countries struggled to make the transition to democracy. Colette's career took a new direction. She was appointed by the DoJ as its legal advisor, first in Hungary and later in Bosnia. In Hungary, she worked on the development of a crime task force. In Bosnia, she worked with local justice officials on law reform. She then returned to Washington, DC, as the DoJ program manager for Central and East Europe, establishing criminal justice development and training projects in Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, and Macedonia.
From there, Colette took a position with the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), working closely with the United Nations to focus on strengthening rule of law and adherence to human rights standards, training judges and prosecutors, defense counsels, and revising laws and establishing systems for monitoring human rights.
Today, Colette serves as Vice President of Governance, Law, and Society at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). USIP is an independent, nonpartisan organization funded by Congress that works to prevent and resolve international conflict. Focusing on justice, security, and peace, she has worked in numerous countries embroiled in or emerging from conflict, including, Afghanistan, Burma/Myanmar, El Salvador, Guatemala, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Yemen.
She has built a formidable reputation, both at home and abroad, for her commitment, integrity, inventiveness, and effectiveness.