Diana Velardo, Speaker

DIANA VELARDO is the Crime Victims’ Coordinator at the Immigration Clinic and also serves as a supervising attorney. Diana graduated high school with honors in Stuttgart, Germany and came as an international student to the USA in 1994 to pursue her dream of becoming an attorney. She received her AA. from North Harris Community College summa cum laude, her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Sociology at the University of Houston with honors and her J.D. at the University of Houston Law Center. She speaks several languages and has studied law in several countries around the world. This background makes immigration law a natural fit for her. Diana fulfilled her dream of working with her mentor and beloved Professor Joseph A. Vail when she was hired in the immigration clinic in the summer of 2002. She has also been the President of the Lovebridge Foundation which serves victims of domestic violence, refugees and the homeless. Diana is passionate about issues of domestic violence, human trafficking, asylum, human rights and women’s and children’s issues. She was a co-founder and has served as the chair of the Houston Coalition Against Human Trafficking (CAHT). Diana was recently appointed to the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee (UPL) by the Texas Supreme Court. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Artemis Justice Center, a nonprofit organization she founded to help victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and victims of crimes. Diana is the proud mom of two girls, Artemis and Aphrodite.