Lulu Flores
At HendlerLaw, Ms. Flores acts as senior legal advisor and provides strategic counsel regarding the firm’s cases. She also heads the law firm’s myriad of civic and political endeavors. Flores has dedicated her professional career to supporting causes of particular concern to women and Hispanics, including the University of Texas Center for Women and Gender Studies, Planned Parenthood of Texas Capital Region, the Women’s Advocacy Project (now the Texas Advocacy Project), the Battered Women’s Center (now SafePlace), and Mexic-Arte Museum, where she served as President of the Board for 5 years and guided the organization through a successful bond election process to help secure the museum’s future. She is a past president and active member of the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin, where she dedicates herself to heading the Association’s community service efforts, and she served as the State President of the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas. She continues to be involved in mentoring projects for young women and girls, particularly in the Hispanic community.
As president of NWPC, Ms. Flores advocated, encouraged and actively supported women of diverse backgrounds to seek public office and increase the number of young women involved in politics. Active with the NWPC for over 20 years, Lulu Flores served as president of the NWPC for two consecutive terms, stepping down in August 2011. As NWPC’s president, Ms. Flores relied upon her expertise on the changing role that gender plays in politics, from impacting the outcomes of elections to the importance of gender parity in political office at all levels of government. NWPC led the effort to increase the number of women in U.S. Congress from 2 % in 1971 to nearly 17 % in 2011 and saw the election of the first woman Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi who served from 2006 to 2010 and is currently the Democratic Minority Leader.
Ms. Flores led the NWPC through the momentous 2008 election where women played a critical role in both the nomination of Hillary Clinton, the first viable woman candidate for U.S. President, as well as the outcome of the general election. Ms. Flores campaigned actively for Hillary Clinton across the United States and spoke nationally on her behalf on television and in other media.
In 2010 the Hispanic National Bar Association named Ms. Flores “National Latina Lawyer of the Year” at its national convention and the Imagen Foundation bestowed on Ms. Flores its coveted “Latina Leader in Advocacy” award. In 2011, Flores received the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association and Foundation “Outstanding Achievement” award and the Austin YWCA “Lifetime Achievement” award. The Austin American Statesman has named Ms. Flores as one of 50 “All Star Social Superstars” of the 500 most influential Austinites in each of the last five years.
Ms. Flores, the last of nine children, was born and raised in Laredo, Texas where her father, an attorney for over forty years, was one of the founding members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Ms. Flores received her B.A. with High Honors in Government from the University of Texas and her JurisDoctor Degree from the University of Texas School of Law. She is married to Austin attorney Scott Hendler.
