Associate

Yathzelly works on a team that tackles many issues in the scope of K-12, higher education and workforce development. Yathzelly is passionate about promoting educational equity in underserved communities and empowering young people to advocate for the resources they need to succeed. She hopes her heart for service is reflected in the work she does for her community.

Before joining Penn Hill Group, Yathzelly served as an AmeriCorps member at Cardozo Education Campus in Washington, DC. During her service year, she worked closely with 9^th and 10^th grade students in the International Academy who had recently immigrated to the United States. She was passionate about teaching her students to embrace their accents as they began their journeys as multilingual learners. She helped her students build and strengthen their foundational English abilities, as well as gain confidence in building their new lives in the U.S. 

Similarly, during her junior year as an undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University, she served as a Forensic Science teacher with Communities in Schools Richmond at Lucille Brown Middle School in Richmond, Virginia. She enjoyed developing strategies to explain high-level forensic science concepts at a 6^th grade level, and her students loved the labs she would prepare for them. 

Yathzelly graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Forensic Science with a concentration in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. In her free time, she loves learning new hobbies, trying new restaurants, going out with friends and exploring DC. 

You can reach Yathzelly at yortega@pennhillgroup.com.