Nadia K. Hernandez Named New Project Director of Staten Island Legal Services

STATEN ISLAND, NY – Today, Legal Services NYC announces that Nadia K. Hernandez will begin as the new Project Director of Staten Island Legal Services, a program of Legal Services NYC. She is the first Latinx director of Staten Island Legal Services and the first Latinx woman to sit on Legal Services NYC’s senior leadership team.

For nearly 20 years, Staten Island Legal Services has fought for racial, social, and economic justice for low-income Staten Islanders. Staten Island Legal Services helps prevent evictions and foreclosure, preserves affordable housing and homeownership, obtains access to education, supports survivors of domestic violence, assists applicants for immigration status, and engages in LGBTQ/HIV+ advocacy. In working closely with the communities on Staten Island, Staten Island Legal Services regularly conducts outreach and community education and builds relationships with community leaders and organizers, to achieve holistic solutions for their clients.

“For more than a decade, Nadia has provided high-quality legal help to low-income New Yorkers in need, including families, immigrants, and survivors of domestic violence across Staten Island,” said Raun Rasmussen, Executive Director of Legal Services NYC, which includes Staten Island Legal Services. “As Acting Project Director at Staten Island Legal Services over the last year, Nadia has provided stellar leadership as our programs and staff continue to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. Her collaborative problem-solving approach has been crucial in helping communities across the borough get the services and resources they need. We are beyond thrilled to have her permanently in this leadership role and look forward to working with her as Staten Island Legal Services continues to help Staten Islanders get back on their feet.”

“The Staten Island Legal Services Advisory Board is thrilled Nadia Hernandez is the permanent Project Director,” said Jennifer S. Borrero, SILS advisory board member and Vice President for Student Affairs and Alumni Engagement at the College of Staten Island-CUNY. “We look forward to her continuing to apply her expertise to expand the reach of Staten Island Legal Services during these unprecedented times. Her legal acumen, practical approach to problem-solving, and passion for serving our clients have earned her the respect of Staten Island Legal Services’ staff, board, and the LSNYC community. We are confident that our organization will be well-positioned under her guidance to represent underserved Staten Islanders in the years to come.”

Ms. Hernandez started her legal career as an attorney at the New York Legal Assistance Group providing direct representation to domestic violence survivors in matrimonial, family law and immigration matters and then at The Door, representing unaccompanied minors in expedited removal proceedings. Ms. Hernandez has been a manager at Staten Island Legal Services since 2017, first as the Director of Family Law, then as a Deputy Project Director, and finally as an Acting Project Director from early 2020 until now. Ms. Hernandez graduated from Saint Peter’s University and New York Law School. She is an attorney mentor for Legal Outreach and a member of the NYC Bar Association’s Domestic Violence Committee and Working Group on Racial Equality in Our Courts.

“It is an honor to serve Staten Island communities and I am thrilled to lead Staten Island Legal Services,” said Nadia K. Hernandez, Project Director of Staten Island Legal Services,a program of Legal Services NYC. “Staten Island communities were hard hit by Covid-19, but Staten Island Legal Services has and will continue to be there every step of the way to help them recover and thrive.I look forward to strengthening our community partnerships, pursuing systemic change and advocating for the rights of Staten Island’s most vulnerable residents, and supporting a diverse and highly-skilled staff as they fight for justice for this geographically isolated and underserved borough.”

For more information on Staten Island Legal Services, visit www.legalservicesnyc.org/statenisland