“Sisters Walking In Boldness & Blessings”

Yulise Reaves Waters, Esq. is the Senior Chief Innovations Officer of the Lone Star Justice Alliance (LSJA), a nonprofit legal organization that improves the lives of youth and emerging adults (ages 17-24) in the criminal legal system and that addresses the racial disparities that persist therein. Previously, Waters was an Assistant City Attorney and Lead Community Courts Prosecutor for the City of Dallas where she co-founded the Second Chance Community Improvement Program (SCCIP) in 2014 which became the first-ever felony community court in Dallas County and the first-ever young adult specialty court in the State of Texas.

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Waters holds B.A. degrees in English, Spanish, and a B.B.A. in Organizational Behavior and Business Policy (each magna cum laude), and a Juris Doctorate, all from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. As a Presidential Scholar, Waters studied abroad at La Fundacíon de José Ortega y Gasset in Madrid, Spain. She is currently pursuing an MBA in the Executive MBA Program at SMU Cox School of Business. Waters is a graduate of the 2019-2020 inaugural Dallas Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Racial Equity Now Cohort. Nationally, her commentaries on race and justice have been featured on syndicated radio and in major U.S. city newspapers. She holds memberships in the Juvenile Law, Criminal Justice, and Collaborative Law Sections of the State Bar of Texas and is a graduate of the Leadership Dallas Class of 2020.

Waters is the recipient of numerous honors including Who’s Who in Black Dallas, the City of Dallas’ Wall of Honor for meritorious service to the citizens of Dallas, Prairie View A&M University Ministers Conference Outstanding Leader Award, Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation Peace Champion Award, DFW Millennial-to-Watch, Texas State Fair Juanita J. Craft Catalyst Award Honorable Mention and recent inclusion among D Magazine’s 78 Women Changing the Face of Dallas. 

Waters is also a candidate for ministry seeking ordination in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2022. A published author, Waters’ offerings, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made,” on the adultification of black girls is included in When Kids Ask Hard Questions: Faith-filled Responses for Tough Topics. Other offerings include “God Heals Us” and “Somebody Prayed for Me” found in Blessed Is She: The Transforming Prayer Journeys of 30 African American Women and “Refuge” published in Our Daily’s 2022 On the Shoulders of Giants: 28 Reflections on Faith Through Black History. Waters is married to the Reverend Dr. Michael W. Waters. They are the proud parents of four children: Jeremiah, Hope, Liberty and Justice.