NLSLA’s Yvonne Mariajimenez Receives 2026 Loren Miller Legal Services Award
Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County (NLSLA) is proud to celebrate President & CEO Yvonne Mariajimenez, who has been selected to receive the 2026 Loren Miller Legal Services Award from the California Lawyers Association.
One of the California legal community’s most distinguished honors, the Loren Miller Award recognizes attorneys who have made significant contributions to expanding legal services to underserved communities. The California Lawyers Association, an independent non-profit bar association representing more than 45,000 members, will present the award on October 24 at its annual meeting in San Diego.
The recognition is especially meaningful as Yvonne prepares to conclude her remarkable 48-year career with NLSLA at the end of 2026.
Yvonne has devoted her career to advocating for the communities of Los Angeles County and ensuring low-income individuals and families can live with stability, dignity, and reliable access to justice. She joined NLSLA as a paralegal, then championed the rights of her clients as a staff attorney before serving as the organization’s Deputy Director for 21 years and becoming President & CEO in 2019.
She has made a lasting impact throughout NLSLA and the communities we serve. Yvonne has advocated for immigrants, survivors of domestic violence, homeowners, tenants, and families seeking access to public benefits and healthcare. Following the 2008 housing crisis, her advocacy contributed to the passage of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights. She also helped build NLSLA’s Medical-Legal Community Partnerships, connecting legal assistance with healthcare to address the legal issues that can have a profound effect on a person’s health and well-being.
Yvonne has also been a leader in disaster response. Following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, she founded NLSLA’s Disaster Assistance Project, creating a lasting model for providing legal support to people whose lives have been upended by disaster. That work continues today, including NLSLA’s response to the 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires and the 2026 Boyle Heights Lineage warehouse fire.
“Receiving the Loren Miller Legal Services Award is an incredible honor, but what I’m most grateful for is the opportunity I’ve had to spend nearly five decades working alongside people who believe that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and have a fair chance at justice. I’ve learned so much from our clients, our staff, our pro bono partners, and the communities we serve. NLSLA has been such a meaningful part of my life, and I’m proud of what we have built together and of the many people who will carry this work forward.”
— Yvonne Mariajimenez, President & CEO, NLSLA
We are grateful to the California Lawyers Association for recognizing Yvonne’s extraordinary contributions to the legal services community, and we’re even more grateful for her tremendous commitment to our many community members in need.
Congratulations, Yvonne!
