- Victoria Beatty is The Cushman School 2012 Distinguished Alumni -

(BLACK PR WIRE) – MIAMI – Victoria Beatty, an attorney with the Fort Lauderdale office of statewide law firm Broad and Cassel, has been named the 2012 Distinguished Alumnus from The Cushman School, a pre-K through eighth grade private school in Miami. She is the first woman and first African-American to receive the award.

Beatty attended the school from kindergarten through sixth grade and was selected based on her career achievement and active involvement in the community.

“It was a welcome and humbling surprise to find out I received this honor,” said Beatty. “My Cushman years ignited my love for education – not just academics, but building a life centered around values: responsibility, integrity, and empathy. I’m honored to be recognized by an institution to which I owe so much."

Beatty also was recently designated as one of the “40 Under 40 Leaders of Today and Tomorrow” by Legacy magazine, a South Florida publication for black business leaders. In addition to being a key member of Broad and Cassel’s banking litigation practice group, Beatty gives unselfishly to the local community. She serves as a Democracy Fellow for PICO-Florida (People Improving Communities Through Organizing) where she sponsors voter education phone banks and coordinates early voting efforts, she has served as pro bono legal counsel to the Belafonte Tacolcy Center of Liberty City in Miami and has served as a legal volunteer with the Miami Workers Center and the DREAM Act Clinic. She currently serves as the pro bono legal counsel to The Stem Academy School of Early Learning and Miami Youth Garden, schools founded to develop and educate youth from the blighted areas of South Florida.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga., Beatty earned a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.

“Victoria is a role model for both young people and her peers,” said Managing Partner Gabriel Imperato. “It reflects the benefits of her hard work and passion for both her career as a lawyer and devotion to those less fortunate in our community. We salute her accomplishments.”