Leasly Diaz Beltre
Leasly Beltre is a senior at Waltham High School in Massachusetts. Lease immigrated to the US from Puerto Rico at the age of four. As a biracial, bilingual Latina, she is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion for all students and uses her experience as a first-generation American to help her community. Through the Waltham Partnership for Youth’s Windows and Mirrors Internship, Leasly helped create an art installation to increase the visibility and representation of minorities in her high school halls. At the Waltham Boys & Girls Club, she volunteers with the Summer Foods program and uses her experience having had an IEP to help ESL and special education students. Leasly also loves to dance and compete with the varsity field hockey team. Leasly works hard to maintain her place on the high honors list and aspires to become a speech and language pathologist to help people gain confidence in finding their voice, just as she has found hers.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg, or "Notorious RBG" as she has been coined by Shana Knizhnik, was an American icon of epic proportions. As remembered by the American Bar Association, "It is undeniable that the late Justice Ginsburg transformed the legal profession, the Supreme Court, and the fabric of American society through her tireless advocacy for gender equity. She was a brilliant legal scholar who left a mark on American jurisprudence both in her role on the Court and as an advocate." NSHSS hopes to honor the blazing legacy of "Notorious RBG" by awarding ten (10) applicants with $1,000 each for their efforts to embody the spirit of RBG within their own communities.