She graduated from law school at the University of California - Berkeley, Boalt Hall. While in law school, she founded and oversaw a legal advocacy project at SAGE in San Francisco. Her work there included helping the nascent anti-trafficking program by conducting legal trainings for public prosecutors and district attorneys, as well as being a member of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition. Prior to law school, Bortel was a U.S. State Department/IREX Fellow in Moscow, where she attended Moscow State University and volunteered with numerous nonprofit women's groups such the Angel Coalition, an anti-trafficking coalition. Her work in Russia included training women's groups, working with trafficking victims and helping draft proposed anti-trafficking legislation.