Staff & Board

Irma Herrera joined PILP’s Board in 2010 and has been a Bay Area civil rights lawyer for more than three decades. She is now a playwright and solo performer. Her one-woman show, “Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?” addresses themes of identity, courage, and prejudice and has been used as a component of DEI training at law firms and law schools.

Prior to becoming a playwright, Irma worked as a journalist covering legal and social justice issues at San Francisco based New America Media. As a civil rights lawyer, she served as the Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates advancing the rights of women and girls for 15 years. She represented farmworkers in Washington Yakima Valley and was an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).

She is the recipient of various awards including the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award, awarded to women lawyers of distinction. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the van Löben Sels/Rembe Rock Foundation which funds legal advocacy organizations. She is a member of the East Bay La Raza Lawyers Association.