DarKenya Waller’s commitment to the YWCA — and women and children in need — is both a personal and a professional one. As an attorney and the executive director of Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, DarKenya’s initial involvement with the YWCA began on a professional level. As a lawyer, she has worked tirelessly to represent women and children escaping domestic violence who have ended up in the YWCA’s shelters, but it didn’t take long for her to begin partnering with the organization in a volunteer capacity as well.

 

“I took pleasure in seeing many of our mutual clients grow and flourish after the legal representation I was able to provide and the services the YWCA was able to offer,” she says. As a result, she joined the YWCA’s board, where she continues to serve as a member.

 

And although DarKenya is providing a vital service to survivors of abuse, she has received as much as she has given. “My involvement with the organization has taught me to be fearless,” she says. “The strength and determination of the women and children I represented put everything into perspective. Many overcame insurmountable odds to attain the level of safety and independence they were able to achieve. It is no small task to uproot your children with only meager resources with the hope that whatever else is out there is better than the abuse they endured.”