Betty has dedicated her professional career as an advocate for civil legal services for the poor. She has

served as the Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, the largest funding source for

legal services to the poor in Texas, since 2001. Betty started as a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Central

Texas after graduating from the University of Texas School of Law. She has held various public interest

law positions, including: Executive Director of Laredo Legal Aid Society, Inc., Legal Director of Volunteer

Legal Services of Central Texas, Managing Attorney of Legal Aid of Central Texas and as a staff attorney

at Advocacy, Inc.

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Betty has served on many local, statewide and national committees, boards and task forces. She is the

immediate Past President of the ABA’s Hispanic Commission, a Past President of the National

Association of IOLTA Programs, and Past-Chair of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas.

Betty serves on the boards of Management Information Exchange (MIE) and is board chair of

ProBonoNet.

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Betty is a recipient of the Distinguished Lawyer Award, Tower of Justice Award, Outstanding Public Interest

Attorney Award, the Regina Rogoff Award, the "Nonny" Award for Outstanding Nonprofit Leadership in

Austin, the "Star of Justice" Award, the Harold Kleinman Award, the Community Service Award and Chair’s

Award (Hispanic Issues Section), the ABA's Grassroots Advocacy Award, and she just received the Emily

C. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Access to Justice Commission.

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