From hiking Machu Picchu to sandboarding in the desert to shivering at the top of Rainbow Mountain, Tom C. Narvaez was wowed by the climate extremes he encountered while visiting Peru last year to celebrate his mother’s birthday.

“The geography out there is absolutely incredible,” says Narvaez, reached by Zoom while on vacation in Turks and Caicos.

An avid traveler, Narvaez spends his days navigating the complexities of American immigration policy as a senior associate at Williams Mullen.

“My focus is on the business side of immigration, which is dealing with multinational companies, foreign investors or a foreign company that wants to expand into the U.S. market,” he explains.

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Prince William County, Narvaez credits his time as a political science major at Virginia Commonwealth University with laying the foundation of his career. While earning his juris doctor from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Narvaez clerked with the U.S. House of Representatives under Chairman Bob Goodlatte and the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary under Sen. Chuck Grassley.

“I gained a lot of experience in dealing with oversight of Homeland Security and immigration in general,” he says of his time on Capitol Hill.

Narvaez returned to Richmond in 2018 after being hired by Williams Mullen’s labor, employment and immigration section. These days, changes in immigration law are heavily “executive driven”; a new presidential administration often means drastic shifts in immigration policies, guidance and executive orders.

“Definitely a time of anxiety and uncertainty,” he says of the current realities of immigration law. “We’ve definitely been busy.”

In addition to providing counsel to Fortune 500 and multinational industries, Narvaez undertakes pro bono work, recently helping Afghan families who had to be evacuated after assisting American armed forces. For his contributions, Narvaez was recently named to this year’s Virginia Access to Justice Commission’s Pro Bono Honor Roll.

“It’s been meaningful work, being able to give back in that way,” he says of his pro bono cases.

Narvaez served a term on the board of Sacred Heart Center, a nonprofit that assists local Latino families, and currently serves on the board of the Virginia Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He’s raised thousands of dollars for the latter cause through running the Chicago Marathon and the New York City Marathon. Presently, Narvaez is member of Leadership Metro Richmond’s Class of 2026.