The Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania (HBAPA) held its 22nd Annual La Justicia Award and HBAPA Board of Directors Swearing-in Ceremony on Feb. 2, at City Hall. This year, one of the organization’s founding members, Judge Nitza Quiñones Alejandro, was honored. 

During her acceptance speech Quiñones Alejandro said, “I want to thank you, I’m really very humbled and very honored to receive this award. Many times we do things and we just do it because it has to be done and it's our job. And we don’t think of the influence and the impact it has on others.”

Quiñones Alejandro came to Philadelphia in 1975 after graduating from law school at the University of Puerto Rico. Upon her arrival, she became the sixth Latino lawyer in the city. After working at the Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS) and the Social Security Administration, she began a 12-year career with the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Quiñones Alejandro quit her job at the VA in 1990 to run for a seat on the state bench. In 1991, she became Pennsylvania’s first Latina judge. In 2012, President Barack Obama nominated her to the federal bench. She made history again and became the first Latina lesbian federal judge after her confirmation.    

Speaking to the younger members of HBAPA she said, “I am also very grateful that you have continued [to] carry the torch that we lit for you.” 

She continued, “When I left the leadership of the HBA… I was worried, just like any parent is worried when your kids take over or start taking their first steps. But I watched from afar and every year I grow prouder and prouder of you, the organization, because you have continued what is so important to us older HBA members.”

After Quiñones Alejandro’s speech, the 21 members of the organization’s Board of Directors, including five new members, were sworn-in. HBAPA’s new president, Melissa A Martinez, was also sworn-in. 

Martinez is a Senior Counsel at AmerisourceBergen. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and International Business, a MBA from Rutgers University School of Business-Camden, and a Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School. 

As she closed out the program, Martinez recognized last year’s president Fernando Rivera and gave him an award. 

“Although I am at the beginning of my presidency, I already know that leading this organization is a true labor of love. Fernando, please accept your award as a token of recognition of your countless hours of devoted service as president,” she said.