Uncrowned Community Builders

Vastye W. Gillespie obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Communications from Buffalo State College. An Arthur A. Schomburg Graduate Fellow, she earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Law and was awarded State and Local Government Law Certification.

As an attorney for the UAW-GM Legal Services Plan since 1995, she represents hundreds of clients per year in consumer issues as well as other legal matters. As a consumer advocate, she provides Pro-Bono legal services to indigent consumers who have been defrauded. Prior to joining the Plan, she practiced in criminal, family, and landlord tenant law.

As a health advocate, Ms. Gillespie serves on the Council of the American Diabetes Association's Cultural Diversity Committee. The committee is responsible for implementing a diabetes awareness campaign targeted at culturally diverse and at-risk populations. She is a Team Captain for the third consecutive year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Annual Light the Night Walk. The walk raises funds to support the Society's mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and mylenoma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. She also served as a former board member of Sheehan Memorial Hospital.

Ms. Gillespie is an adjunct professor in the Communication Department of Buffalo State College. She teaches a mass media law course and a diversity course that analyzes how minorities are portrayed in the media.

She serves as Secretary on the Board of Trustees for the Mark Twain Museum of Buffalo.

Ms. Gillespie was one of five panelists at an AFL-CIO working woman symposium with Hillary Clinton in 1999, and is a recipient of Business First's Forty Under 40 award (1999).