Born and raised in the South Bronx, Atenedoro Gonzalez is a housing attorney and nonprofit executive with deep roots in community advocacy. He began his legal career with the Tenants Rights Coalition at Bronx Legal Services, where he represented low-income tenants in Housing Court, New York Supreme Court, and administrative proceedings, while helping organize tenant associations to combat unsafe conditions, harassment, and unlawful rent practices.

Atenedoro later served as General Counsel and Policy Director for the New York City Council’s 15th District, where he led housing policy initiatives, supervised a housing rights clinic, and helped secure over $500,000 in rental relief for Bronx residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. His legislative work included measures to strengthen tenant fire safety protections and increase penalties for bad-actor landlords.

He currently serves as General Counsel and Deputy Director of Children’s Arts & Science Workshops Inc., a youth-serving nonprofit providing after-school, summer, and community-based programming in Washington Heights and the Bronx. His practice focuses on nonprofit governance, labor and employment matters, compliance, contracts, and public policy advocacy.

Atenedoro is President of the Dominican Bar Association (2026), a Board Trustee of HELP USA, and an active leader in the Latino legal community. He earned his B.A. from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Ms. García graduated summa cum laude from the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) where she received a Doctor in Laws or LL.B degree in 2006. While practicing law in her home country, she held various positions at one of the most prominent law firms in the D.R. where she handled complex, high-profile criminal and civil cases, including serving as Special Investigations Managing Attorney in the corporate fraud case at EDEESTE, an electric utilities company. She also worked for the National Victims Rights Services of the Attorney General’s Ministry of the Dominican Republic, where she supervised a team of lawyers, implemented policy, and was legal counsel for victims of domestic violence and other human rights abuses. From 2008 to 2009, Ms. García also worked as a Legislative Counsel for the Dominican Republic’s Senate and for the House of Representatives. 

In her professional career in the United States, Ms. García has successfully handled a wide variety of cases representing clients in immigration proceedings before Immigration Court in the states of New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Texas. She is well-experienced with removal defense cases with application for bond, cancellation of removal, asylum, withholding of removal, 237(H)(1)(A), 212(c) and (h) waivers; family-based immigration petitions, cases of misrepresentation, fraud, unlawful entry, special visas and relief for juveniles, as well as with DACA, U-Visa, T-Visa and VAWA petitions.

When it comes to criminal law defense, Ms. García Pantaleón has ample experience working with arraignments, getting clients released on their own recognizance or by posting bail; negotiating plea deals, DWI cases, domestic violence charges,

Jennifer Henriquez is an experienced in-house counsel who has provided support to prominent SEC-registered investment advisers. She has developed significant experience in investment management, as well as U.S. and international corporate, governance, and regulatory matters. She also has experience in the formation and structuring of private investment funds. Jennifer received a B.A. from University at Albany, State of New York and a J.D. from New York Law School. During law school, Jennifer interned with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement and served as President of the Latin American Law Students Association. She is admitted to practice in the state of New York, and the United States District Court, Southern District of New York. As a first-generation college graduate and the first attorney in her family, Jennifer is passionate about mentoring law students and making a meaningful impact in her community. In addition to serving on the Board, she currently serves as Chair of the Dominican Bar Association’s Young Lawyers’ Committee. Jennifer also serves on the Alumni Advisory Board of the National Latina/o Law Student Association, a non-profit organization focused on advancing the personal, professional, and academic success of Latina/o law students. Outside of her professional life, Jennifer enjoys exploring her passion for cooking, watching thought-provoking documentaries, and engaging in meaningful volunteer work.

Haydee began her legal career in the Dominican Republic, focusing on employment and labor law. In this role, she represented clients in a wide range of matters, including wrongful termination, constructive discharge, and complex employment contract disputes. She later joined the Superintendencia de Pensiones, a key governmental regulatory agency, as a Junior Analyst. There, she played an active role in drafting, analyzing, and reviewing regulations and policies, further sharpening her expertise in regulatory compliance and administrative governance.

After immigrating to the United States, Haydee shifted her practice to employment-based immigration law. She has successfully guided employers and individuals through complex immigration processes, including H-2B visa petitions, PERM labor certifications, and lawful permanent residence (green card) applications. Her international legal background allows her to approach immigration matters with strategic insight and cultural fluency.
Haydee is currently the Managing Partner of Ortiz Legal Group PLLC, where she handles immigration matters and advises clients on business law issues. She also serves as in-house counsel to small and mid-sized companies, helping them navigate legal risk, ensure compliance, and protect their business interests.

Chabely Pimentel is an Associate at McDermott Will & Schulte’s New York office where she represents clients in a broad range of corporate and commercial litigation disputes. Chabely maintains an active pro bono practice, with an emphasis on asylum and SIJS applicants.

Chabely received her J.D. from Columbia Law School where she served as the Online Editor for the Columbia Journal of Race and Law as well as President of the High School Law Institute. She received her Bachelors in Anthropology and Latin American and Caribbean Studies from Columbia University where she was heavily involved with college admissions and the application process through the non-profit organization, Matriculate, and the Columbia Undergraduate Admissions Multicultural Recruitment Committee.

Chabely is a native Spanish speaker born in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and raised in Washington Heights.

Perla Jiménez is a Dominican-trained attorney admitted to practice in the Dominican Republic and a New York Bar candidate. She holds dual advanced training in real estate law in the United States from Fordham University School of Law and in the Dominican Republic from Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM). She brings a cross-border, litigation-informed, and risk-aware perspective shaped by experience in both jurisdictions.

Perla currently maintains a private real estate law practice in the Dominican Republic, where she focuses on advising foreign investors and the Dominican diaspora in real estate transactions, due diligence and real-estate-related litigation. Her professional background includes judicial experience in both jurisdictions, having served as a Judicial Extern at the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, and as a Judicial Intern at the New York Surrogate’s Court. Prior to relocating to the United States, she clerked at the Supreme Court of Justice of the Dominican Republic, working on complex civil and commercial matters.

Perla serves as Chair of the Foreign Attorneys Committee of the Dominican Bar Association, where she leads initiatives centered on mentorship, legal education, and community building for Dominican and foreign-trained attorneys in the United States. 

Guided by a strong commitment to service, Perla views the law as both a professional vocation and a means to create meaningful impact for the Dominican community at home and abroad.

She is also the founder of Ministerio UNAPROJIMO, a nonprofit organization in the Dominican Republic dedicated to serving underserved communities through food drives, ambulatory medical and dental assistance, and educational support. The organization brings together more than 40 volunteers from diverse professional backgrounds, including physicians, dentists, psychologists, and educators.

Yessica Pinales Coombs is a Corporate Finance Associate in the Banking and Finance group at Otterbourg P.C., a midsize law firm in New York City, where she represents banks, financial institutions, private creditors, administrative agents, and corporate borrowers in U.S. and cross-border commercial financing transactions, including bilateral and syndicated lending, acquisition and leveraged finance, cash-flow lending, asset-based lending, equipment finance, private equity sponsor finance, project finance, and commercial real estate finance.

Ms. Pinales was recognized in the "Ones to Watch" 2023, 2024 and 2025 list by Best Lawyers in America.  Prior to joining Otterbourg, Yessica was an associate at a law firm in New Jersey, and previously served as a judicial law clerk in the New Jersey Superior Court. She earned her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law and her B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. 

Raised in New York and proud of her Dominican heritage, she currently resides in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. Outside of work, Yessica enjoys traveling, long-distance running, and dancing.

Nathaniel R. Torres (“Nate”) is a VP, Legal Counsel to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group ("MUFG"), one of the world's largest financial institutions.  At MUFG, Nate serves as counsel to the Board of Directors and assists with corporate governance and operations of the company.  Prior to working at MUFG, Nate also served as an Assistant General Counsel at Carver Bancorp, Inc., bank holding company for Carver Federal Savings Bank ("Carver"); the largest African- and Caribbean-American managed bank in the United States. At Carver, Nate worked closely with the Bank's Board of Directors on corporate governance, finance, compliance, and all other general corporate legal matters.  Nate also previously worked for the Department of Justice and was part of a team appointed by the Obama administration to litigate financial fraud cases against major U.S. Financial Institutions that caused the financial crash of 2008.

Nate earned his Juris Doctor from St. John’s University School of Law in 2014 and Bachelors in finance from Old Dominion University in 2011.

Christopher A. Carrion is the principal attorney and founder at Carrion Law Group, P.C. ("CLG"). He focuses his practice on criminal defense, family law and general litigation. Prior to founding CLG, Christopher was a Pro-Bono Assistant District Attorney at the Kings County District Attorney's Office, where he prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases and worked on several trials including attempted murder and armed robbery. He has appeared before state and federal courts across NYC and upstate New York.

Christopher has also handled complex litigation matters, Article 78 proceedings and issues of municipal liability. He has advised and counseled clients on a wide range of issues including misdemeanor & felony charges, grand jury proceedings, labor & employment cases, and matrimonial, child support & custody matters. As a native Spanish speaker, he has advised and counseled clients in both English and Spanish. 

Julissa Collado is an attorney with over 15 years of experience working for the New York State Unified Court System.  She is currently working as a Principal Law Clerk for the Hon. Natacha Carbajal-Evangelista, a Judge of the Court of Claims. Previous to this, she worked as an Associate Court Attorney for the Law Department within the Supreme Court – Civil Division in Queens County.  Julissa focused mainly in researching and analyzing complex legal issues and drafting decisions for Judges in Supreme Court, Surrogate’s Court and Court of Claims.  Julissa was also an Associate Court Attorney in the Civil Court – Housing Division for 13 years, where she conducted settlement conferences and assisted Judges in trials related to all Residential Landlord-Tenant matters.

Julissa obtained her Juris Doctor in Law from New York Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.  Julissa is a board member for the Dominican Bar Association and the Long Island Hispanic Bar Association. Julissa is also a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association and Latino Lawyers of Queens County. Julissa was born in the U.S. to Dominican parents.

Veronica is a wife and a new mother to the cutest baby boy.  She is the proud daughter of Dominican and Puerto Rican parents who raised her to love and celebrate her roots. 

 She is an associate at the law firm of Arnold & Porter where she represents clients in white collar criminal defense and complex litigation before federal and state courts and the U.S. government. She routinely helps clients navigate internal investigations, antitrust matters, and contractual disputes, as well as matters concerning Latin America. A staunch advocate of pro bono work, Veronica leverages her prior experience as an Immigration Attorney at the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia (PDS) to represent clients in criminal and immigration matters.

Veronica received her J.D. from Yale Law School where she served as a law student intern in the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic for two years. Veronica also served as the President of the Latinx Law Students Association and the Community Development Chair of the Black Law Students Association.

Daniel is a 2016 St. John’s University School of Law graduate currently working as a court attorney for the Honorable Scott M. Krompinger in Bronx Criminal Court. Before criminal court, Daniel worked in the Bronx Supreme Civil Court Law Department and as Principal Law Clerk for the Honorable Bianka Perez. He is admitted to practice in New York State and the Federal Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Aside from legal work, Daniel also serves as a facilitator for Children’s Art and Sciences Workshop where he helps high school students prepare for their first summer jobs within variousorganizations. In his spare time, Daniel likes to travel and dance salsa.

Dannelly is an attorney, community organizer and activist with a legal practice rooted in movement lawyering and trial advocacy. They bring extensive trial and litigation experience across housing and criminal courts, with a career dedicated to defending the rights of low-income New Yorkers and holding powerful institutions accountable. Their legal work has focused on confronting structural injustice through direct litigation and zealous advocacy on behalf of marginalized communities.

After getting his Juris Doctor from the CUNY School of Law he worked at Queens Legal Services where he litigated in Queens Housing Court and Queens Supreme Court, defending tenants in eviction proceedings and pursuing claims to hold landlords accountable for unlawful rent practices and failures to make necessary repairs on behalf of tenant unions.  

Currently, Dannelly is a public defender with The Legal Aid Society, representing clients inManhattan Criminal Court and advocating for individuals navigating the criminal legal system.

As a board member, Dannelly is committed to building power within the Dominican legal community and the broader black diaspora, advancing access to justice, and using the law as a tool for collective liberation and systemic change.

After graduating from the 2-year Honors Program at New York Law School in 2019, Janelle Romero began her career defending employees who were illegally underpaid by their employers. While she thoroughly enjoyed her work and the clients she served (mostly undocumented immigrants), she sought to expand her knowledge within employment law and began working for a firm that specialized in workplace discrimination and sexual harassment claims.

Hundreds of represented employees later, Janelle joined a hiring and payroll startup as the Leader of Labor Affairs and oversaw legal matters relating to labor and employment law, business contracts, and Human Resources oversight for over six hundred contractors and employees.

In 2022, Janelle founded Gen Esq Law to provide quality affordable legal options to small businesses and employees. Through her TikTok educational videos, Janelle continues to dedicate her time and talents to helping make the workplace a more fair, appropriate, and prosperous environment for all.

Pablo Segarra, Esq. is an intellectual property attorney, cultural connector, and keynote speaker focused on one core idea: culture lives through people—through our stories, names, and expressions—and it strengthens when we protect what defines us.

At Trademarkia, one of the world’s largest trademark firms, Pablo advises over 1400 founders and high-growth teams, especially creators, e-commerce founders, and tech startups—on building trademark-first protection that aligns with business goals: reducing risk, protecting brand equity, and preparing for growth, investment, and exit. On stage and in the media, Pablo bridges culture, ownership, and leadership through grounded storytelling. He helps audiences connect identity to action—so legacy is built with intention, not left to chance.

In his speaking and advisory work, Pablo focuses on how intellectual property functions as modern identity infrastructure—protecting names, likeness, and brands—especially as AI changes how originality is created, copied, and commercialized. His perspective is shaped by a career that spans both public service and private practice, including prior service as a

retired NYPD officer, which informs his emphasis on resilience, judgment, and decision-making under pressure.

He has delivered keynotes and contributed to conferences and institutions both nationally and internationally including VidCon, SOMOS, NFT NYC, New York Law School, Sedgwick, and Hola Metaverso. He has also consulted on IP and legal strategy for Mastercard’s AI Bot initiative, trained 400+ attorneys through NYSBA CLE programming on AI, IP, and blockchain, and presented on AI and IP at Miami Ad School and Universidad APEC, including a U.S./Dominican legal systems workshop.

His work has been featured in outlets and platforms including Remezcla, VidCon, NY Latino Film Festival, Travel & Leisure, Grub with Gruber, and the Failures Only Podcast.

Genesis Tejeda currently serves as Senior Counsel for Commercial & Product at Couchbase, Inc, a leading cloud database platform, where she navigates complex legal matters to drive innovation and support global business growth. 
Before joining the tech industry, she practiced at Sidley Austin LLP and began her career as a senior associate within PwC's Forensics and Anti-Corruption team.
 
Genesis earned her J.D. from Berkeley Law and her B.S. in Accounting and Finance from the University at Albany.
During her time at Berkeley, she remained committed to the Latinx legal community, serving as Co-President and Alumni Relations Chair of the Latinx law students association.
 
A native of Queens and a first-generation professional of Ecuadorian and Dominican descent, Genesis has dedicated time to pro bono immigration work with the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) and the Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project.
 
As a Director for the Dominican Bar Association, she is committed to mentoring the next generation of Latinx attorneys and brings that same passion for advocacy to the DBA, where she focuses on diversifying the pipeline into corporate law.