Yolanda Villa joined Farmworker Legal Services of New York as a bilingual
Domestic Violence Advocate in May of 2007. Together with Cheryl Gee, the
Domestic Violence Project Coordinator, and co-worker Alina Diaz, Yolanda does
extensive outreach to migrant camps, to the homes of migrant and seasonal farm
workers, and to other locations such as migrant clinics where farm worker women
can be reached. She also does educational presentations on the issues of
domestic and sexual violence directly in the farm worker community and to other
community and social service agencies. Prior to joining the Domestic Violence
Project as a staff member, Yolanda served for over twenty years as a member of
the FLSNY board of directors, while she was employed as a Special Assistant and
Assistant Public Defender for the Monroe County Public Defender’s office. At the
Public Defender’s office, Yolanda represented clients in local and superior
criminal courts throughout Monroe County at both the trial and appellate levels,
having obtained her J.D. from SUNY-Buffalo Law School in 1983. Yolanda also has
considerable prior experience in outreach, education and counseling within the
Latino communities in the greater Rochester area through her earlier work with
both Catholic Family Center and Planned Parenthood of Rochester and Monroe
County. She received a B.S. in Psychology in 1977 from the then-titled N.Y.S.
Regents External Degree program, now a program of Excelsior College. The
majority of the credits toward Yolanda’s degree in psychology were earned from
her studies at the University of Rochester from 1972 through 1975.