Attorney Wendy Y. Estrella of Methuen

Attorney Wendy Y. Estrella of Methuen, an alumna of Northern Essex Community College, will return to campus as its guest speaker during its 54th annual commencement on Saturday, May 21, at 11 a.m.

The commencement will be held under a tent on the quadrangle on the college’s Haverhill campus and approximately 1,100 graduates are expected to receive certificates and associate degrees.

Estrella, who is a member of the NECC Board of Trustees, is the principal of Estrella Law Offices, 300 Essex Street, Lawrence, which she opened in 2005.

“Many of our students will be able to relate to Wendy and her personal story,” said Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex. “She moved to Lawrence as a teen from the Dominican Republic. After graduating from Lawrence High School she attended a four-year college where she struggled because of her limited English language skills. This didn’t stop Wendy. She rebounded and headed to NECC where she started with basic courses and became one of our many success stories.”

Her law office specializes in preparing and conducting real estate closings for multiple financial lenders. In addition, the practice offers legal advice and represents clients in family relations, business, landlord/tenant disputes, and personal injury.

She is on the boards of the Lawrence Partnership, the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, and the Merrimack Valley Investment Board and is a former board member of the Lawrence Family Development Charter School.

She was recently nominated to receive The Immigrant Learning Center’s Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Business Growth.

A 1994 graduate of NECC with a business transfer associate degree, Estrella attended Merrimack College graduating in 1997 with a dual concentration in accounting and business management. She continued her education earning a juris doctorate degree from the Massachusetts School of Law in 2004.

Estrella was featured in a blog by NBC Latino several years ago. She credited NECC for her success, saying “attending this college was a game-changer for me.”  She’s a community leader who was tapped by Governor Baker to be a member of his transition team.

For more information about NECC’s 2016 commencement, visit the website, www.necc.mass.edu/commencement