Silvia Argueta has been the Executive Director at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) since 2008. LAFLA is the frontline law firm for low-income individuals in Los Angeles County. LAFLA is committed to promoting access to justice, strengthening communities, fighting discrimination, and effecting systemic change through representation, advocacy, and community education. Silvia leads a 200 plus staff non-profit law firm with five offices, four self-help centers, and three courthouse domestic violence clinics. She oversees an annual budget of over $41 million and all aspects of strategy, legal advocacy, finance, fund development, and technology. She recently oversaw an $18 million capital campaign and construction of LAFLA’s new headquarters, a cornerstone of justice that brings respect and dignity to both clients and staff. Silvia’s career has been devoted to achieving equal justice using direct representation, civil litigation and policy to effect change.
Prior to joining LAFLA in 1999, she was a staff attorney at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and prior to that at the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California. She attended UCLA and obtained her degrees in Political Science and French in 1985. She received her law degree from UC College of Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings College of the Law) in 1989. Silvia was born in Guatemala and immigrated to Southern California at the age of 6. She was the first in her family to go to college and she credits her mother for empowering her and for being a wonderful model of strength, love and perseverance. Her father’s legacy to her was instilling values of hard work, fairness, and a belief that one should always question authority.
