Elizabeth 'Liz' Diaz, 33

Elizabeth Diaz has always been hard working.

How hard?

The trusts and estates attorney at Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen has five degrees: a bachelor’s and master’s in accounting from Florida State University; a JD and MBA from Stetson University; and a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida College of Law. “I kept getting scholarships to go to school, so I kept going,” Diaz says.

That’s the same mentality that got her into Florida State in the first place — even though she missed the school’s application deadline. She instead found the president of the school’s phone number and gave him a call. She remembers her dad saying, “What do you have to lose?”

After being accepted, Diaz walked onto the school’s track team her freshman year. She later became captain of the cheerleading team.

Diaz made the shift from accounting to law when a business law professor saw she excelled at numbers and encouraged her to explore how numbers interact with the law. It’s been a good differentiator for Diaz, hired by Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen following an on-campus interview in 2012.

In July, Diaz was named a partner at the 50-attorney law firm. She also runs the firm’s summer associate program, which aims to mimic life as a first year associate, encouraging applicants to meet clients, get out in the community and learn to juggle home life and work life.

In addition to her work life, Diaz has led both finance and development initiatives at Forty Carrots Family Center as a member of its board. Growing up in a family of five kids with her youngest sibling 15 years younger than her, and now with two children of her own, Diaz says charities that focus on kids have captured her heart.