
Justice Moreno is a first-generation Mexican American, the third Latino to serve on the Supreme Court of California, and a former president of the Mexican American Bar Association. Justice Moreno brings invaluable expertise in our core objective to elevate diversity in the US legal system. He also currently serves on the boards of the Arroyo Vista Family Health Center and the Western Justice Center Foundation.


Purvi is also dedicated to supporting diversity in her practice and to serving as a leader and mentor within the firm and in the broader legal community. Her commitment to mentoring and helping to advance the careers of diverse and female attorneys is evident in the several influential positions she has assumed at the firm. She serves as co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Strategy Committee, hiring partner for the Los Angeles office, and a member of the firm’s Women’s Strategy Committee.
In addition, Purvi’s commitment to advancing diversity in the legal profession at large can be seen by the many programs and initiatives to which she dedicates her time. For example, in addition to serving on LEAP’s board, Purvi is a member of a steering committee of judges, in-house and outside counsel, and educators working with Just the Beginning – A Pipeline Organization to develop and implement a Los Angeles‒based summer legal institute for diverse high school students. In 2018, she served as co-president of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California, which recently recognized her as its 2019 Mentor of the Year.


In 2013, Governor Brown appointed him to be a judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Judge Tapia is currently the Assistant Supervising Judge of Criminal and presides over a felony trial court. Judge Tapia serves on the Judicial Council’s Advisory Committee on Providing Access and Fairness, the Traffic Advisory Committee, and the Futures Traffic Working Group. In addition, he serves on the Executive Boards of the California Judges’ Association and the California Latino Judges’ Association. In 2019 Governor Newsom appointed him to serve on the Governor’s Judicial Selection Advisory Committee for LA County.
Judge Tapia is a volunteer Teen Court Judge at Bell Gardens High School. He has been a volunteer judge with the Constitutional Rights Foundation, an Adjunct Professor of Law, and every year he mentors high school, college, and law school students. He actively works with many local bar associations and previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Mexican American Bar Association and the Board of Directors of the California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. Judge Tapia has received many awards, including the 2019 Lanterns Award from MOSTe (a nonprofit who helps underserved girls get into college).

Tiffany previously worked at Bet Tzedek Legal Services and began her legal career as an impact litigation fellow. Following her fellowship, she led a community outreach project providing food pantry clients across Los Angeles County with legal advice and representation. By cultivating partnerships with social service agencies, she established holistic client services onsite at food pantries and was promoted to Director of Intake Services in 2014. Through this work, Tiffany cultivated a passion for working with students and found her way to the University of California, Irvine, School of Law, where she served as the public service law counselor for several years. As a student counselor, she developed public interest workshops, administered fellowship projects and programs, and advised students and alumni.
Honored with the opportunity to continue to follow her inspiration, she joins LEAP’s Advisory Board in relentless pursuit of access to justice for all.


He has commented on cases and trends in criminal and juvenile law for television, radio and print media and frequently lectures on criminal and juvenile delinquency law. He has published in the area of indigent defense delivery systems and how different systems affect dispositional outcomes. Cyn Yamashiro is L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas’ appointee to the Los Angeles County Probation Commission, where he served as president for two years. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Loyola Law School Center for Juvenile Law and Policy and was a founding member of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center and the Center for Juvenile Justice in Boulder Colorado. He is currently a member of the board of Outward Bound Adventures. Prior to his appointment as the directing attorney of the IJDP, he was in private practice, representing clients in trial and appellate matters in state and federal court.

A first-generation college student from rural Ohio and member of the LGBTQ+ community, Derek is most proud of his legacy of increasing racial, sexual orientation, and socio-economic diversity at Penn Law and in helping to launch diversity scholarships at Paul Hastings. He also has volunteered as a career mentor and writing coach to first-generation college applicants in the Los Angeles area through the Posse Foundation and College Summit. Derek graduated from Ohio University with a B.S. in Journalism, then earned his J.D. from Capital University as a part-time evening student while working as a Legislative Aide for the Ohio Senate.

As a first generation law student and daughter of a mother who never had the opportunity to attend college, Thaila is committed to mentoring and increasing diversity in the legal profession. In addition to her work on the LEAP board, Thaila serves on the board of the South Asian Bar Association – Northern CA (SABA-NC) chapter and is the co-chair of the SABA-NC Endorsements Committee, whose mission is to help appoint qualified diverse candidates to the judicial bench. She is also the co-chair of the Northern California chapter of the Federal Communications Bar Association, where she has mentored many law students interested in pursuing careers in telecommunications and tech law.
Thaila received her B.A. from Stanford University, with honors, and her J.D. from the University of Maryland's Francis King Carey School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude.