Community leaders Laura Flores, David Morales appointed to YVC Board of Trustees

Yakima Valley College is pleased to announce David Morales and Laura Flores have been appointed to YVC’s Board of Trustees. Morales is a farmworker rights attorney at Northwest Justice Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to combatting injustice, strengthening communities, and protecting human dignity. Flores serves on the Grandview City Council and owns a human resource consulting firm that supports small businesses.

Flores grew up in Prosser, attended the University of Washington, and has served as a member of the Grandview City Council since 2022, working to advance her longstanding efforts to foster community growth, promote economic development and make a positive difference in her community. Her professional background includes more than 20 years of experience in human resources, project management, process improvement, and training and development. Flores served as a human resource manager specializing in training and development at Inspire Development Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families with young children, before establishing Ignite Consulting, where she assists small business owners in enhancing their technical skills and empowering and supporting leaders to make an impact.

She serves on the board of Main Street Grandview Association and chairs its Promotion Committee. Her community engagement has also included serving on advisory boards at Perry Technical Institute, the board of Yakima SHRM, and chairing the Giving Tree to coordinate holiday gifts for local foster children and families facing domestic violence.

“I am honored to join the Yakima Valley College Board of Trustees and eager to support the institution’s mission to empower students and strengthen our communities,” said Flores. “I look forward to working with my fellow board members to advance educational opportunities and make a positive impact on the lives of the people we serve.”

 

Morales earned his law degree from Columbia Law School and a bachelor’s degree in history from University of California, Berkeley. Since joining the Northwest Justice Project in 2012, he has worked to represent everyday workers in their fight for justice and bring together communities of people affected by systemic issues such as the loss of affordable housing and lack of representation of Latinos on juries in eastern Washington.

He also is a civic leader in the Yakima Valley, volunteering and serving on the boards of non-profit organizations such as Catholic Charities Housing (Central Washington), La Casa Hogar and the Yakima Symphony Orchestra. For ten years, he has contributed weekly on-air to KDNA Spanish language community radio news coverage of political issues concerning the Latino community. Previously, he has served in leadership roles with the Commission on Hispanic Affairs, United Way of Central Washington, Progresso, and the City of Yakima’s Ethics and Equal Rights Committee, and the Truth and Reconciliation Committee.

“It is an honor to be appointed to serve as a trustee of Yakima Valley College,” said Morales. “Like many of our students, I know what is like to grow up in a low-income, immigrant family and be the first person in your family to go to college. It is resilience and drive of our Yakima Valley students that inspires me to work towards improving YVC.”

Morales replaces Neil McClure on the board while Flores replaces Castulo “Cus” Arteaga. Both of their terms of office began on April 4, 2024.

 

Press Release Contacts:
Dustin Wunderlich / 509.574.6870 / dwunderlich@yvcc.edu
Stefanie Menard / 509.574.4646 / smenard@yvcc.edu