Leading a Latina Uprising
Age: 36
Director
Organization: Mayor’s Office of New Americans
Nubia Willman moved to Chicago for law school in 2007 and has called the city home ever since. Currently she is responsible for the City’s immigration policy and programming for immigrants and refugees. Nubia’s work includes leading the City’s census outreach efforts, improving language access, and working with community stakeholders to increase services for Chicago’s immigrant and refugee communities. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, Nubia worked at Legal Aid Chicago for nine years where she represented survivors of gender-based crimes and low wage workers seeking immigration and employment relief.
Outside of work, Nubia is committed to the advancement of social justice for the Latino community; focusing on diversity and inclusion within the legal field. In 2014, Nubia created Latinas Uprising, an online community dedicated to supporting the advancement of Latina lawyers, who make up less than 2% of all U.S. lawyers. The first online community of its kind, Latinas Uprising now reaches an audience of over 25,000 young Latina professionals pursuing legal careers. Nubia is also a freelance writer, previously authoring a monthly column for Remezcla in which she broke down complex immigration questions to the general public.
Nubia graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2010 and is admitted to practice in Illinois.
Words of wisdom: “We often feel that our experiences, whether it’s being a first-gen student or growing up in tough circumstances, puts us at a deficit compared to others but we should see our difficult experiences as valuable lessons that we can leverage to show our grit, determination, and leadership abilities.”
