another episode, The Way to College podcast. And, you know, I've been very fortunate with the podcast to meet some amazing people. And, you know, most of the guests have been folks in my network, but then if you spend any time on social media, right, you always find people that are doing amazing work. And my guest today is somebody who's been doing some amazing work in the organization. And so I've been following them for a while and finally thought, okay, I need to have this person on the podcast because I want to hear the story. I want to hear about the work they're doing. I also want to know how did they come to this work because this is incredibly powerful work. And so we'll get into it shortly. What I'm going to do is I'm going to allow her to introduce herself to our listeners out there. So, if any of you mind introducing yourself. Thank you so much, Dr. Sondi. Well, thank you for the invitation. My name is Fenida Villarreal and I currently have the honor to serve as president and CEO of Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement, also known as Vida. And we are a regional nonprofit organization here in the Rio Grande Valley. Awesome, awesome. Fenida, thank you for joining me. Fenida, I always start my podcast with the same question. And that question is, if you had to identify a starting point for your own educational journey, what would that starting point be for you? For me personally, I would definitely say my educational journey started at South Texas College. So I started with their dual enrollment program while I was in high school and it opened so many doors of opportunity for me. And it eventually led me to transitioning into what was at the time the University of Texas, Pan American and later on in for my graduate studies, UTRGV. You know, you're the second guest, at least in the last week, two weeks that I've interviewed that have talked about the doors that South Texas College is open for them. And so I'm glad you started there. And so I'm eager to learn more about that. One thing that I do wanna know is what were your early aspirations? I think as a high school student right here, you have the opportunity to take college courses. And I feel like, and I'm not trying to date you or to say, but I feel like today it's almost like every high school you look around and they've got like an early college. And so it almost feels like a no-brainer. But I think, you know, even five, 10, right, 15 years ago, I feel like students had to make a much more conscious decision about, do I wanna take college courses? What does that mean? Because there's a potential for me to sacrifice some of that, what a traditional high school experience might be like. So what were your early aspirations? And what was it that led you to decide, you know what I do wanna take these college courses? Yeah, no, I definitely agree with you. I think when we look back 10, 15 years ago, you know, there was a few opportunities, but definitely not to the extent that we see them today. There's so many, not just do enrollment programs, but like you mentioned, early college campuses. And so back in the day when I was in high school, I've just personally always been the type of person that I don't have a lot of patience. So I tend to wanna, you know, jump into my career and, you know, gain that work experience and everything. And I wanted to go through it just as fast as possible. And I'm still kind of that way. I tend to rush into things, but so that was basically what sort of pushed me in that direction, you know, while I was in high school, as soon as I learned that there was an opportunity to take college courses, I really didn't think twice and just wanted to take advantage of that opportunity because I eventually saw it as a path to graduating early, and which is ultimately what ended up happening for me as I was able to obtain my bachelor's degree in accounting at just the age of 20. And so at that early age, I started, you know, gaining that professional experience early on. Wow. Well, congratulations. Congratulations to you because I know, like I said, that obviously is a conscious decision on your part to advance. And you clearly had some goals for yourself. Was that something that you were, were you always like that, very goal-driven, goal-oriented? You knew what it is you wanted to do looking forward? I would say when talking to my parents and my family, yes, they've always described me as just being very goal-driven and ambitious and very, you know, driven when it came to my academic studies. And I've always been just very competitive overall. So yeah, I think that's something that's been with me throughout my professional journey. I, you know, we'll get into the work that you're doing, but one thing I throughout the interviews, whenever I'm talking about, I'll periodically ask for advice. And so what advice would you give a high school student? And I'm sure you've probably done this recently. What would you, what advice would you give a high school student who's lost and is trying to find their way? They're not quite as goal-driven as you, or goal-oriented as you, but they know they wanna do something with their lives. But they're trying to figure that out. What advice would you give them? Right, no, I think, and I think that's a valid consideration or challenge that we all face. I mean, even to some degree, I may have personally had, you know, some goals, but I still wasn't entirely sure of what I wanted to do, you know, reaching or trying to pursue a professional career. And so my number one advice to anyone would always be to keep an open mind as you enter your college journey, as you enter the workforce. I mean, I've personally have never been the type of person to be solely or focused on a specific goal or a specific accomplishment that I lose, you know, consciousness of, you know, surrounding opportunities. And so to give you an example, you know, my major was accounting and I sort of started on this path to eventually become a CPA and worked in public accounting, but I was never so focused as to, okay, I need to stay in public accounting or I need to traditionally, you know, work at a CPA firm and, you know, work my way up to maybe one day be partner. I was always, you know, open to different opportunities to learning new things, to meeting new people, and that eventually led me to the nonprofit sector. And so I think that's a very valid story in any type of career or sector that you pursue is always just keep an open mind because you never know what opportunities may come your way. I love that. I love that. And absolutely, I couldn't agree more. What was your college experience like? Because it sounds like you, like you said, you graduated early, you took some courses, you started your career educational journey and write at STC as you said. Was the transition from STC to UTP difficult at all for you? Or was it something that because of that early experience, it was a much easier transition? Yeah, I would definitely say that the transition was very fairly easy. I think, you know, I definitely commenced I'll Texas College, I mean, from even 15 years ago the time being that I was able to do the dorm enrollment program since then, I can personally testify they have a world-class institution of just some amazing professors, the coursework that they teach. So it's very competitive. And I feel that it definitely gave me a solid foundation once I made the decision to transition to a four year degree. I definitely felt like I had the essential support and essential skill set to be successful at the university. I love that. I'm good for you. You know, I've had a few guests who've said immediately after college, they experienced a bit of kind of a hangover. They graduated and weren't necessarily ready for the real world. And so they transitioned, but had difficulty finding that first professional job. What was the transition like for you post graduation? You know, I guess for me, I would say I have a bit of a unique experience because a lot of times, you know there's different ways you can look at this is while I was in college, I always, you know held some type of part-time job that was sort of relevant to the type of work that I was, you know trying to pursue. And so even while I was a full-time student at the university, I scheduled my courses in a way where I was only attending college two days out of the week. And then the other three days out of the week, I was already working as an accounts payable assistant. And so that transition was made a lot easier when I graduated because I already have, you know like a full-time employment offer. And that just, you know, opens up other opportunities. So I always encourage, you know, students that it's great if you have the opportunity, right? To just solely focus on your studies and give you that flexibility. But if you can, and if you're up for the challenge, definitely consider, you know looking for a part-time employment opportunity or even an internship while you're pursuing your education because it just, it provides you, you know that additional tool set that you'll have by the time that you graduate where you have a little bit more of an advantage. Excellent. The show, you have this background, you've got this experience. So after graduating, did you continue in that field? What was the next phase? Yes. So when I graduated, I would say my sort of my first full-time job as a college graduate was as a finance analyst for a big media company, Comcast Communications. They have a, they're actually owners of the local TV station, Telemundo Cuarenta. So I was in that media world for a couple of years. But then again, it goes back to my personality and how I'm very goal-driven. And so at that time, soon after graduating and starting working, I had that goal in the back of my mind that I wanted to be a CPA for some reason. So I started figuring out, okay, what is it that I need to be able to sit for these CPA exams and get the license? And so it turned out that I needed to go back to school, get a master's in accounting, and I also would need public accounting experience, which I wouldn't be able to satisfy by working there in the corporate world. And so I went back to school, got my master's and during that transition, I started looking for an opportunity of where I could start working at public accounting. And so I ended up working as a staff accountant for a local CPA firm here in McAllen, worked there for a couple of years as well to satisfy that requirement. And then I was able to sit for the exams, successfully pass them and obtain the license for. And then while I'm still working and sort of navigating this, another goal of mine was to at some point in my career, be able to have the experience in either non-for-profit or government entities just because in the accounting world, it's a bit different. They're regulated by different rules in comparison to the for-profit sector. And so that's just something that I had curiosity for learning. And so again, I did some research and there was a director of finance opportunity at VEDA at that time. And so being a nonprofit, I said, this may be a good opportunity to sort of pursue that goal. And so I started here at VEDA as a director of finance still with my background in accounting. And so later on, I became more passionate about the mission, a little bit less about the finance and accounting aspect. And so that's how I've been here ever since. You know, true reform, you said, right, it's good to have these goals, but also to be open to these opportunities, right? And it sounds like your natural curiosity to learn more about government, how the government works and nonprofit sectors work. And so dipping your toes into that field leads to your work now with VEDA. What was it about the work? Because you said, right, there was this shift from obviously recognizing that the finance part is important, but to the mission of the organization. What was it about the work that maybe inspired you or that attracted you to the larger mission? Right, so I would say within three to six months of being on the job at VEDA, having those opportunities to begin interacting with other departments, other team members and their roles like fundraising, program development, and then that connecting me to the actual success stories of our students, and then being able to interact with these students that are going through our program and really listening to their stories and how their stories are very similar to my personal journey and how I can relate to their challenges and their successes has started definitely inspiring me and motivating for me to ask myself, okay, how can I do more? How can I get more involved? How can I support them in a bigger role? And so that's when I really started to look for opportunities to learn more about the organization, how it works, how we're able to sustain ourselves when it comes to funding and the community partnerships and ultimately finding ways to be able to serve more of the students that we are serving because all of them have an incredible story of resilience and determination. And at the end of the day, it's by serving them that we can make our communities so stronger. So until today, they are my number one inspiration and why I wake up every morning, extremely encouraged and motivated to come to work. It's beautiful. And so congratulations again on that work. Tell us more about the organization. What is Vita and what is it that Vita does? Sure, so we are a nonprofit organization focused primarily on workforce development. We were established in 1995. So this year we will actually be celebrating 30 years that we've been serving the Rio Grande Valley. We were founded by a organizing group known as Valley Interfaith in collaboration with local industries, local industry and local leaders at the time. And so what they've seen and what we continue to sort of face is these prominent challenges within our community. We still have significantly high rates of poverty. We have still significant low levels of higher education attainment. And so we were founded as a possible solution to try to address some of these challenges and connect our low income learners and our disadvantaged residents with opportunities for not just higher education and not just college opportunities, but also the essential support services that they need in order to be successful. Because we know that there's a high percentage of students that enter college or enter a career training program and 50% chance they actually completed and there's a 50% chance that they may not complete it for XYZ reasons. And so those reasons go beyond just academic challenges, there's family responsibilities, there's childcare, there's transportation issues, there's, you name it, so many challenges. And so we really try to provide that comprehensive support and provide them that financial assistance, whether it's for academic related expenses like their tuition, their textbooks, but even beyond that, to try to address, maybe they need assistance for childcare or transportation, which we can also cover. And even more importantly than that really, I think is our case management. And so we have a full team of full-time career counselors that are required to meet with their students on a weekly basis. And again, that's really trying to keep them motivated, keep them engaged, because it's really important when you're trying to balance work, school, family, it's very, very easy to just lose track or not be successful in these rigorous programs. And so really their counselors are their biggest advocates and encouraging them and assessing their progress and just helping them with whatever they may need to be successful. That sounds fantastic. You know, as somebody who I've been in higher ed now, this is year 23 for me, most of my work has been working with first year students as a transition to the university. And so, you know, I think universities, I think we do a good job of addressing a lot of the academic support, but it's all of those other things that you've talked about, right? They're often the biggest challenges for a lot of our students, biggest obstacles. And a lot of times students struggle to figure out, okay, how do I address that? Where do I find that kind of support? And so just again, kudos to the work that you're doing. Who do you, if you were to say, you know, who is the Vida student? Are these students that attempted higher ed and maybe were unsuccessful and maybe found their way, found we're outside of higher ed for a little bit and are looking to get back and earn a credential or vocation, something people that never attempted post high school, you know, who are your Vida students? I would say a combination of both. So definitely we have a high percentage of those individuals that might have attempted some type of college experience in the past and for whatever reason were unsuccessful and sort of life happened to them where they started working, you know, started building a family and now they're looking, you know, to go back to school and find that opportunity to find a better quality of life, not just for themselves, but not their families. In addition to that, I will say we also have a high percentage of those individuals that just simply never had that opportunity or that guidance to be able to enter or consider a college pathway. I mean, a lot of our students last year, I believe it was 84% of our students were first generation college. And so, you know, with that comes a whole set of challenges as well, because do you may not have that strong support system at home to guide you and navigate through all those processes of starting a college application, of considering, you know, different career tracks. And so again, that's where I believe that, you know, the value of our support really comes from that career guidance that our counselors provide. Wow, wow, that's awesome. How many students are currently in, or how many students do you see on average per year? Do you have those kinds of figures? Yeah, so last year, we were over 700 students that we served, and this year we're looking at hopefully exceeding that benchmark and hopefully meeting the 1,000 mark. So we're trying to target at least 1,000 for this year. Wow. Wow. Wow, that's really impressive. You know, and there's still so much progress and so much opportunity to serve. I mean, we see it in the demands and in the applications that we receive. I mean, the need is just so much more. So, you know, trying to find ways in how we can, you know, collectively as a community leverage resources to be able to serve more of them. Yeah. Yeah, well, I'm certainly glad that you're there and that you're doing this work. Is this... I don't know that you could speak to... that you could foresee yourself in this kind of work, doing this kind of work. At any point, could you see yourself, could you have seen yourself, envisioned yourself doing this kind of work? Yeah, no. So, if you would have asked me, you know, 10 years ago or 15 years ago, you know, do you see yourself in the nonprofit sector doing this type of role? I would have never thought that I would be in this position. But again, I've always been just open to my surroundings and to the opportunities. And I can tell you that the role that I'm in today continues to be the most rewarding role that I've had in my entire career. And so, the way that just life works to put you in these situations is just incredible. Wow. Well, I'm glad you've found your way. It sounds like a combination of things, right? Your work ethic, you know, you have being goal-oriented, but also being open to these opportunities. And you've found your way into this amazing work. Um, Kelly, are you, you know, for countless students, the countless students that you work with, right? And you find yourself in a position to provide, to connect them with resources and to provide resources, to provide guidance. I'm sure you still find students at struggle. What advice, you know, for our students that, for your students that struggle, that are still struggling with some of these demands, what advice do you give them? How do you keep them motivated and focused? Yeah. So I think there's a couple of things. One, I would definitely say to just, you know, never give up. You know, oftentimes we see these successful professionals in our community and we think, oh, you know, they haven't gone through, you know, the same challenges that I have, or they don't know what it is to go through, you know, my situation or my barriers. But the reality is all of us across the sectors, across industry, we all have faced very similar challenges. It's just maybe not as popular that you may hear them. But I mean, we've all come from, you know, immigrant backgrounds, or we may have been a first-generation college grad, or we might have been juggling three jobs while going to school and raising a family. So, you know, there's always that opportunity to look, you know, within your circle, within your community, and find those people so that, you know, you have a source of inspiration that you can draw from and also see that, you know, if this person could do it, then so can you, because you have the same opportunities, the same ability. And with that said, I would also say, you know, always embrace your authentic self. You know, a lot of times we may see that, you know, what makes this different is not necessarily, you know, an advantage, but I, you know, entirely disagree with that. You know, if you're a, you know, first-generation college grad, for example, you know, that's a huge strength. You know, you can say that you have this bicultural identity that, you know, you understand, you know, not just one culture, but two cultures that you have, you know, strong family ties. You have, you know, this resilience ability that we have as Hispanics here in the community. And so, and I think that, you know, that comes with time too, because even in my personal journey, I can say like early on, I thought maybe I saw like, for example, my age as a disadvantage because I said, oh, you know, because, you know, I'm relatively young and starting out in this role, you know, people may not take me seriously or, you know, because I'm a female and a lot of times, you know, this industry is still dominated by men, you know, my voice doesn't count. And well, you know, now looking back, you know, those are precisely the traits that have made me unique and have given me strengths because, you know, the fact that I am young when I was younger at the time, you know, it gave me the opportunity to have a unique perspective, to have an innovative voice. And so definitely always embracing your diversity as a strength that you're bringing to the table. I love that. I love that. And I think those are powerful words, that's great advice because, because I think you're right. You know, on recent interview, somebody said also thinking about the advice that he gives the folks that he works with, and he says, you know, a lot of times we don't, we don't think anybody else has sort of walked in our shoes. And perhaps that maybe we don't do enough of sharing our stories, right? But I think you're right, that chances are somebody has had a similar journey. They've walked a similar path. So, you know, seeking advice, but also, you know, getting the help that you need and not feeling like I'm the only one that's ever experienced this. Like I'm alone in this, I think is incredibly powerful. How have you, and because you mentioned something really interesting, you said, you talked about your, you know, what are perceived weaknesses as potentially our strengths. You talked about age, and I look at you and you're still very young. And I think it's very interesting because I think if you spend any time on social media and you look, you spend any time looking at the government, sort of the local government, Higahua County and some of these social media sites, the crowd looks a lot older, leadership looks a lot older, right? How do you navigate that? Because I think maybe there is a perception, right, that, well, I've got a lot of experience. I know, right, how have you positioned yourself to be a thought leader and somebody who, and a mover and shaker? Because, you know, I've seen you in all of these spaces and clearly you're doing good work. You wouldn't have 700 plus students that you're serving every year, right? So how have you positioned yourself within these groups? Yeah, so I think a couple of things. One of them, and I will always share this with students, is preparation is really important. Because, yes, a lot of maybe of your future colleagues or supervisors or leaders may have, you know, years or decades of experience, but you can sort of, you know, position yourself in a competitive way based on what you know, right? No one can take away what you know. And so I think the more that you learn, whether it's through a formal degree or formal certification, or even through, you know, continuing education or, you know, gaining a new skill set, a new language, all of that adds to your knowledge. And so when you walk into a room or a board meeting, you know, and you can feel confident of what you're saying because you have that knowledge, you understand what you're saying and what you're communicating, that adds that level of confidence and that, you know, competitiveness that really prepares you for a future career in that field, even though you may not have, you know, decades of experience, right? To give you an example, you know, you can be 25 years old and be a certified public accountant, which means obviously you know how to, you know, read a financial statement, whereas somebody that doesn't have that background, even though they can be 50 or 60 years old, they're not gonna have that level of expertise that you do. And so that's an advantage for you. And so, and again, I think that's not just in that industry, but in any industry that you work is always trying to find ways on preparing yourself. Even if it's, I've always said, even for a meeting or a phone call, I've always been one to always be prepared. I think, you know, the more that you can prepare yourself, the more confident and overall well that you will perform. For example, if you know that you're gonna be meeting the president of a college or the president of an organization, do some research on that individual before you go into that meeting. Or, you know, if you're going into a board meeting and you know that the focus is gonna be X, Y, Z, well, then do your research so that you can be prepared. Especially when you're young, because that really gives you that confidence to be able to perform well and to be able to communicate with others who may have, you know, a lot more experience than you. But at the same time, I would also highlight, I personally believe that behind every successful professional, there is a strong network of mentors behind them that have, you know, guided them and give them, you know, that valuable insight. And so for me, I can definitely tell you that I've been super grateful for the numerous people that have, you know, mentored me and guided me throughout my career journey. You know, just to give a couple of shout outs, one of them definitely being our board chair, which is McCallan Commissioner, Tony Aguirre. He has, you know, really not only believed in me from a very, you know, early start, but, you know, continues to, you know, give me that valuable guidance and advice. You know, so another one that I really have an utmost respect and admiration for is our county judge, Judge Richard Cortez. And so that's another individual that they've really opened their networks to me. They've, you know, shared ideas and opportunities with me. And, you know, that's also very valuable because when you find these inspiring leaders from our community, I definitely feel that, obviously as a young professional, I can learn so much from them. So that advice, I think there was so much there, might in terms of just positioning oneself and recognizing, or at least where you see yourself as maybe you're young and how do I position myself in a group of my peers, people that are older, people with experience. And so I appreciate the preparation, right? Because I think, I don't know, I feel like sometimes that's lost on some folks, right? If you're, you know, and I can't, I don't know not to belabor the point, but I know even with students, just, you know, if you're gonna go to the Career Expo, right? And you're interested in maybe some of these companies, learn about the companies, you know? Don't show up not knowing anything about these companies, right, or a job interview, right? Exactly. Yeah, and so thank you for that. But then also like recognizing the folks who have helped you along your journey. And I don't know what it is, but I do find in a lot of the students that I work with, they're apprehensive about asking for help. And, but I think, and the point that I try to share with them is, you know, much to your point that there are people that along the way that are gonna be there or will make themselves available now, it's up to us whether we take advantage of that help and those networks, right, for ourselves so that we can learn and we can grow and again build those connections. So thank you so much for that. Infiliya, I wanna be mindful of your time because I know you're incredibly busy. And I feel like that was a really good point to end on, but I've gotta ask anyway, right? As we transition out, as we bring this interview to a close, what's the final piece of advice you wanna give to a young person out there who is listening to this and is, I don't know, just trying to find their way? Yeah, I think something that we haven't really touched on and I'm a big advocate of is, especially to our younger generation, is don't feel that you need to leave the Rio Grande Valley to build a successful career. You know, a lot of times, you know, I saw that with the people that I grew up with, with my friends, you know, 90% of them left the valley and have built their personal life and careers elsewhere. And I think, you know, just sharing my personal experience, I started, you know, 10 years ago, and, you know, 10 years ago, we didn't have the opportunities that we have today. So, you know, I've stayed in the RGB, I even for college for, you know, starting, you know, all of my professional career, I've never left. And, you know, and if I was able to do that 10 years ago, you know, there's just so much more potential nowadays. So, if you're unsure of whether or not you want to leave the valley and you feel that, you know, you'd like to stay home, you know, stay close to your family, by all means, I would encourage anyone listening to definitely consider the RGB as their long-term home and also for building a bright future. I mean, we have tremendous resources, we now have all sorts of institutions of higher ed. I mean, we also have now a presence by Texas A&M. We have huge investments from corporations and industries. We have SpaceX now in Brownsville. You know, the healthcare industry continues to be booming. You know, fields and STEM are, you know, extremely in high demand as well. And so I think there's a lot of opportunity and potential here in the RGB. I love that. I love that. I think sometimes we think, and I'm gonna put myself in that camp because I know as a high school student, I was ready to run away and leave. And I think, right, for those that say there's no opportunity, but I think there is tremendous opportunity to create those opportunities also and to build it. And I'm sure like the work that you've done, I think you've contributed to the, to this ecosphere that you've helped create, right? And then gone ahead and every day creating opportunities for countless others. So, Felida, thank you for the advice. Thank you for your story. And thank you so much for the work that you're doing because it's important work. I mean, I can't stress that enough. And you know this, how important it is to help the folks around us create opportunities for others to connect them to resources and help them improve their lives. So thank you. No, thank you so much. And thank you for the invitation to your podcast today. It was a pleasure talking with you. Thank you, Felida. This concludes another episode, The Way to College podcast. Thank you to my guests. Thank you to our listeners out there and viewers. Be a reminder, please share the podcast with one other person. And if you think this episode or any of the other episodes might connect with somebody in your circle, please share it. And don't forget, of course, to subscribe, rate, follow all of that good stuff. We'll see you again soon. Thank you and bye-bye. Thank you.
