Mydalis Vera

Owner, Guerrera Writer LLC: Age 36

Mydalis Vera

As an author and social worker, Mydalis Vera lives an impactful life on two fronts, which often intersect.

The first is Guerrera Writer LLC, through which she provides editing and consulting services for a number of organizations, making research reports more clear, precise, and professional, and helping to develop culturally responsive educational content.

She also founded and facilitates a writing group for women aspiring to begin their writing journey. The group welcomed 34 women in 2024, with a goal of doubling that number this year.

As a social worker, she partners with agencies across Western Mass., with a special interest in the foster-care system; she has written more than 150 comprehensive adoption studies or child assessments for children in foster care, with the goal of facilitating adoptions.

“It’s a service I provide because the Department of Children and Families has been in overflow for a long time,” she explained. “So I come in and do adoption studies and assessments to make sure children can get adopted in a timely manner. Sometimes kids are in care longer than they should be because these reports are not completed in time. These reports have to be written so the judge can say this child can be adopted.

“This is my passion,” she added. “When it comes to social work and creating content, I took all the things I love and put them together.”

A dedicated civic leader, Vera has contributed to various organizations and initiatives aimed at empowering communities, including serving as a mentor and board member with Girls Inc. of the Valley, joining the board of Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, and volunteering with the O’Dell Women’s Center.

“I love working with communities,” said Vera, who draws inspiration from her mother, Mildred DeJesus. “We grew up in poverty, and I thought my mom was the smartest person I knew, but she never had the opportunity to really flourish and become what she wanted to be. And I always told myself, when I got older, I would try to give women who wanted an opportunity a chance to create that opportunity.”

That’s why much of her volunteerism centers on inspiring and helping girls and women.

“I’m trying to show women that there is possibility, that they can do it,” Vera added. “I want to demonstrate to women that there are people who care about them, and there is a way out of the darkness.”

—Joseph Bednar