NLSLA’s New Board Member Understands the Power of Access and Representation

When she was five years old, Lizbeth Nevarez immigrated to the United States from Mexico with her parents. The family made its home in Van Nuys, not far from NLSLA’s Pacoima office. Lizbeth’s father worked as a roofer, and her mother stayed home to raise Lizbeth and her three siblings.

Lizbeth did well in school and enrolled in college. But because she was undocumented, she was ineligible for financial aid, and unable to get a job to support herself through school. It was during that time that she applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, which gives temporary legal status and work authorization to people who were brought to the country as children.

The new status allowed Lizbeth to get an accounting degree, and she is now a CPA focused entirely on nonprofits.

“It’s always been my passion,” she said. “I love learning about the organizations’ missions, and helping them to realize those missions.”

When Lizbeth first learned about NLSLA, and about its mission to expand access to housing, healthcare, benefits and justice in Los Angeles’ low-income communities, she could immediately see her own family’s struggles in the stories of NLSLA’s clients.

“Legal services can be critical to people who are living in poverty,” she said. “People who are losing their homes or are experiencing domestic violence—it’s only fair that they are offered the same representation as people with the money to pay for it on their own.”

In 2023, Lizbeth joined NLSLA’s Board of Directors, and is already helping the organization expand access to opportunity and justice in communities across Los Angeles County.