Role
Overview of Immigrants Integration Day
Biography
Ileana J. Montes is IACO’s Advisory Counsel and Legal Department Director, she is an attorney with 22 years of experience dealing with multifaceted legal issues.
After earning an undergraduate degree in Psychology, cum laude, from the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, Ileana attended Seton Hall University School of Law where she obtained her Juris Doctorate degree in 1997. At Seton Hall she was on the Moot Court Board and the Interscholastic Moot Court Team, was selected best Oralist in an appellate advocacy competition and was a semi-finalist in a national competition.
Ileana was the first Hispanic Director of the Division on Women of State of New Jersey. She also served as Director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Office for the Department of Community Affairs of New Jersey. In that capacity, Ileana represented hundreds of employees of the Department making sure that they were afforded the protections under the New Jersey Civil Rights Act and the New Jersey Law against Discrimination
Throughout her legal career Ileana has served on numerous professional committees, including but not limited to the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Municipal Courts, the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Minority Concerns, the New Jersey Advisory Council Against Sexual Violence, the Governor’s Hispanic Advisory Council, the Governor’s Disparity Study Commission, the Governor’s Gender Equity Advisory Committee and the Governor’s Equal Employment Opportunity in Public Contract Committee. Additionally, Ileana has been an active member of the legal and the Hispanic community. She is a former president of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, the founder and current president of “Colombianos Rompiendo Barreras”. She is a member of the State Bar Association of New Jersey, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, and the Organization Latinas United for Political Empowerment. She has been honored by numerous Hispanic organizations and received several awards from New Jersey legislators in recognition of her outstanding and invaluable service to the community.