Service Award
Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz, Arts ’86
Alexandria, Va.
For Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz, service isn’t conceptual. It’s a clear calling that has meant showing up in prisons and in courtrooms, across borders and belief systems, and in moments when speaking up carried personal and professional risk.
A communicator by training and conviction, Kristina has built a career centered on advocating for those whose voices are suppressed or ignored. “That idea was shaped when I was very young, around the breakfast table with my Cuban-exiled family, where neither our freedom nor our right to have a voice was ever taken for granted,” Kristina says.
Her awareness of relatives left behind in Cuba gave her conviction urgency, and it was at Marquette where it took clearer shape. In Jesuit classrooms, she encountered a philosophy that reinforced what she already felt at home: faith demands action.
Kristina’s work intersects with some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time, including free speech, freedom of religion or belief, and the rights of women and girls worldwide. From helping orchestrate the rescue of a Cuban woman and her children to visiting American pastor Andrew Brunson while he was imprisoned in Turkey and advocating publicly for his release, she has repeatedly stepped into complex, high-stakes situations on behalf of others.
In 2016, Kristina was appointed by the U.S. Congress to serve on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), where she was elected vice chair for two consecutive terms. During her tenure, she met with government officials and civic leaders to advocate for human rights in countries like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nigeria, and others. In a defining moment that underscored her commitment to principled service, Kristina resigned from the Commission in protest over legislation she believed compromised its independence.
She views disagreement as a sign of a healthy system. “If no one is ever uncomfortable, it usually means no one is thinking very hard. The ideas that expanded human freedom weren’t polite at the time. They offended people, and they changed the world.”
Before joining USCIRF, Kristina served as executive director of Becket Law, a public interest firm defending free expression and religious liberty in the U.S. and abroad. Under her leadership, Becket secured landmark legal victories, defended the rights of minority faith communities, and represented individuals ranging from Native American practitioners to Sikh service members and Catholic religious orders serving the poor.
Kristina measures success not in titles or awards but alignment. “It’s the ability to live and work according to my deeply held beliefs,” she says. She credits Marquette with teaching her to integrate intellect with conscience and to move across cultures and institutions without losing her moral bearings.
Today, Kristina is the CEO of Intrinsic Communications and serves in several oversight roles, including as a trustee on Meta’s Oversight Board. In addition to her degree from Marquette University, Kristina holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University and is currently reading for her DPhil at the Oxford Law Faculty, Oxford University.
Throughout her career, a clear throughline emerges: a willingness to step into contested spaces, guided by conviction rather than comfort. Her impulse to use her voice, influence, and expertise in service of others reflects values instilled during her years at Marquette.
Looking back, Kristina sees this as the place where her perspective first expanded beyond circumstance. “It’s where I learned that ideas matter, and that how we reason, speak and act has real consequences for others.”
Receiving this recognition from the institution that helped form her is both meaningful and motivating. She sees it not as an endpoint, but as an invitation to keep serving, mentoring and accompanying others in the search for truth.
