There is no question that higher education was the pathway to her success. Brigida currently serves as Chief of the Office of Institutional Integrity of the Inter-American Development Bank, an independent office that investigates fraud and corruption in all Bank-financed activities and implements prevention and compliance activities to improve the Bank’s integrity policies. She is a nationally recognized litigator and former partner of the law firm of WilmerHale in Washington, DC, where she was the first and only Latina partner.
Brigida has earned several notable accolades including “Woman of the Year” by Hispanic Business Magazine,
“Latina Lawyer of the Year” by the Hispanic National Bar Association and “DC Superlawyer” by DC Magazine. She is a past President of the Hispanic Bar Association of DC and Director of the Hispanic National Bar Foundation, the DC Bar Board of Governors and Latino Justice PRLDEF. Brigida also teaches as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and the Washington College of Law at American University.

Brigida has always believed that as a successful Latina, and one who had the help of others, she has a responsibility to contribute to her community and help others fulfill their potential. During her tenure as President of the Hispanic Bar Association of DC, she helped create a free legal clinic providing services in Spanish. Over the years, she has worked with a number of community organizations, devoted a significant amount of time to pro bono legal work and mentored students and young lawyers.In addition, as part of her practice, she represented the University of Michigan in a landmark victory for diversity in higher education before the United States Supreme Court. In part for her work on that case,she was honored by
the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund with its Excellence in the Legal Profession Award.Brigida’s parents were not able to pay for her education.As such, she relied on loans, scholarships, grants and earnings from her employment to pay for college and law school. HSF played an important role by providing her a scholarship that allowed her to continue her education and achieve her goals.