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League of Women Voters
of Jacksonville First Coast
Email: lwvjaxfc@gmail.com
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PO Box 330353
Atlantic Beach, FL 32233
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We the People: A Day to Celebrate our Constitution and Citizenship

About this event


Join the League of Women Voters Jacksonville First Coast on Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 11:30 AM for an insightful event during Constitution Week! We are honored to welcome immigration attorney Andrea Reyes as our guest speaker. Andrea will speak about the path to Citizenship for those she represents as well as her own path and what it means to become an American.

Menu includes  Caesar salad, choice of entree, steamed vegetable, wild rice pilaf, and dessert. 

Seating is limited, so please register and buy your ticket early. Tickets are $35 for members when logged into the website. Non-members will be charged a  nominal convenience fee. 

Andrea P. Reyes, born in Bogota, Colombia, is an Immigration Attorney and owner of Reyes Legal, PLLC located in Jacksonville, Florida. She graduated from Florida State University in 2006 with degrees in Psychology and Criminology. In 2012, she graduated Florida Coastal School of Law with Probono Honors, after focusing on immigration law. In 2014, she opened her solo practice dedicated exclusively to the field of immigration, and for the past 9.5 years she has been practicing family-based immigration, humanitarian- based immigration and deportation defense, including asylum and waivers.


 

Her role as an immigration attorney and natural advocate in her community has earned her the title “La Abogada de la Comunidad” as she has dedicated her spare time to community engagement, activism and education. She works with different churches in Northeast Florida to provide free consultations to immigrant communities and volunteers to provide free Know Your Rights trainings to different cultural groups and community partners that have access to immigrant communities. On the weekends, her firm sponsors community events where she also provides free immigration consultations through different civic programs and fairs. Based on her experience and knowledge, she has also been invited to speak on immigration matters at rallies and marches. In 2021, she had her own FSCJ TEDx talk titled “No One is Illegal” where she shared her advocacy journey that led her to become today’s attorney. She also participated in the Florida Theater’s Untold Story theme “When Lightning Strikes” in 2023.

Recently, Andrea served on Mayor Donna Deegan’s transition team for the Constituency & Community Outreach Committee providing input and recommendations for improving outreach and quality of life for marginalized communities in Jacksonville. She also now serves as a Commissioner on the Jacksonville Housing Authority (JHA) and is the Chair of the JHA Human Resources Committee, which has been tasked with the responsibility of leading the board in finding the new CEO for the JHA.


Since
2017, Andrea has served as a Board of Director in the Central Florida Chapter (CFC) for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and was the Chair of the Practice Management Committee for over four years. She currently serves as the AILA Executive Vice-Chair for the entire chapter.

Through her prior role as Board of Director of the Jacksonville Women’s March and in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Jax, Andrea along with several different community partners, presented the “We are Duval” program as a required curriculum for the JSO Academy. The initiative began in January of 2018 in order to teach the officers at about the city’s diversity, community policing, unconscious bias, and the distrust of vulnerable populations (Black, LGBT & Hispanic communities). The goal of “We Are Duval” was for JSO officers to acknowledge, understand, and practice behaviors that would help to improve the livelihoods of minorities and immigrants in surrounding communities. The program ran for five years with an expanding curriculum but came to a halt after the Sherriff’s transition. Between 2015 2017, Andrea also formally served as an Adjunct Clinical Professor at Florida Coastal School of Law teaching the Interviewing & Counseling Clinic for Human Trafficking Survivors.

Due to her commitment and engagement specifically in the Hispanic immigrant community, Andrea was recently selected as the exclusive “Abogada Titular” in Northeast Florida for the Mexican Consulate in Orlando, with the purpose of serving Mexican nationals in their immigration journey. She also was previously designated as the sole NE Florida Immigration Consultant Attorney for the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) and the Electronic Monitoring Device (EMD) Program under Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) in order to provide Know Your Rights trainings to the program participants.

In 2019, Andrea co-founded the Northeast Florida Immigrant Resource Alliance (NEFIRA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated exclusively to the advancement of immigrants in NE Florida. NEFIRA envisions immigrants participating wholly as citizens of the Northeast Florida community. Through NEFIRA’s educational programs, stabilization resources and civic engagement opportunities, immigrants will find a more welcoming and embracing community in NE Florida. By helping immigrants find their pathway to stability, they will be able to live more informed and self-sufficient lives, allowing them to invest time and resources back in their own community, engage civically and eventually vote.

When Andrea is not busy working at her law firm Reyes Legal, PLLC, NEFIRA, professional board of directors or engaging in her community outreach, she loves spending her free time with her furbaby Peanut and enjoying quality time with her friends and family. She loves good comedy and cooking fun recipes. Recently, she has become a gardener and is working on her green thumb.


Andrea has won the previous professional awards in her community:

  • 2024, Recipient of the Women with Heart Award, Volunteers in Medicine
  • 2022, Recipient of the Jacksonville Business Journal, Women of Influence Award
  • 2022, Recipient of the Interfaith Center of NE FL Educational Humanitarian Award
  • 2019, Recipient of Central Florida AILA Outstanding Contributions to the Chapter Award
  • 2019, Recipient of the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Business Advocate Award
  • 2018, Recipient of the Central Florida AILA Chapter’s Probono Champion Award
  • 2018, Recipient of the Florida Bar President’s Probono Service Award for the 4th Judicial Circuit
  • 2016, Recipient of the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Rising Star Award

 

Reyes Legal Social Media:

Website:        www.reyes-legal.com
Facebook:     Reyes Legal, PLLC IG:        @reyeslegal_pllc

NEFIRA Social Media:

Website:        www.nefira.org

Facebook:      Northeast Florida Immigrant Resource Alliance
IC:
          @_nefira_


Date and Time

Sunday, September 22, 2024, 11:30 AM

Location

UNF Adam W. Herbert University Center
https://www.unf.edu/universitycenter
12000 Alumni Drive
Jacksonville, FL  32224
USA

Category

LWVJFC Events

Registration Info

Registration is required before Monday, September 16, 2024 at 11:59 PM
Payment In Full In Advance Only