Our Values

When Yashira was a child growing up in New Haven, the only lawyers she knew were the ones she watched on Law & Order. On nights and weekends, she’d watch the show with her mom. And she’d dream.

She quickly became enamored with the drama of a courtroom, specifically with the role of the lawyer. She would spend hours practicing her legal arguments and defending her make-believe clients in front of fictional judges. Yashira knew then she wanted to pursue a career in law. As a member of one of the first classes of Amistad Academy Middle School, she shared her passion with her teachers. Yashira credits them with helping her believe that even though there wasn’t a lawyer in her family, and that she’s from a lower-middle class family and neighborhood, she could still become whoever she wanted to be.

And she did. Yashira became a college graduate and the first in her family to receive a juris doctor degree. She is grateful to Amistad for helping with her entire college application process, showing her how to get fees waived, helping her find great colleges and write her college essay, and offering her a scholarship.

Today, Yashira is a college and law school graduate and a successful insurance coverage lawyer in Boston. She’s also never forgotten the school community that helped her pursue her passions. She serves on Amistad Academy’s Board of Directors to help give back to that community.

She knows there are many other little Yashiras out there – chasing their own dreams and goals—and that Amistad’s support can help a student progress in education and in life. And Yashira is proud to help them just as she was helped so long ago.