Yvette Valdez Named 2021 Woman Worth Watching
New York Partner Yvette Valdez has been recognized as a 2021 Woman Worth Watching in Leadership by Profiles in Diversity Journal. The 20th annual list recognizes 103 leaders in law and industry who are paving the way for women in the workplace and in their communities. Ms. Valdez has been profiled in a recent issue of the publication.
Ms. Valdez co-leads the Commodities and Derivatives Regulation and Enforcement group, heads the US Derivatives Regulatory practice, co-leads the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Task Force, and is a key member of the Fintech practice. She advises clients throughout the world on complex derivatives regulatory challenges involving traditional financial instruments and cutting-edge fintech initiatives with a particular focus on complex distributed ledger and cryptocurrency technologies. Ms. Valdez helped to draft Latham's Cryptocurrency & Blockchain Technology Book of Jargon and co-chaired the Global Blockchain Business Council’s working group for cryptocurrency derivatives.
Ms. Valdez is a first-generation American of Peruvian and Cuban descent. She serves on the firm’s Diversity Leadership Committee, and has served on the steering committee for Latham's Women Enriching Business (WEB) group. She has been a longtime member of Women in Derivatives (WIND), a non-profit organization committed to advancing female leaders in the derivatives industry, and mentors other Latina lawyers through the firm's law school diversity recruiting program.
Ms. Valdez has received several accolades for her trailblazing practice, including being named to Innovate Finance's Women in FinTech Powerlist and the BCB Group’s Women to Watch in Crypto & Blockchain list, and is ranked an “up and coming” lawyer for capital markets and derivatives and spotlighted for her derivatives regulatory work in Chambers USA and is recognized in The Legal 500 for fintech.
Her pro bono and civic work is equally impressive. Ms. Valdez currently serves on the board of Legal Momentum, the nation’s first and oldest legal defense and education fund for women advocating for survivors of gender discrimination, sex trafficking, domestic violence, and related forms of gender violence. She has represented immigrants in naturalization proceedings at legal clinics, worked with the LatinoJustice PRLDF, and helped immigrant domestic violence victims — including a family member from Cuba — file petitions under the Violence Against Women Act so they could leave abusive husbands and remain in the US.