Indiana Latino Institute Recognizes Daniela Vidal With the Award of Excellence

Indiana Latino Institute Recognizes Daniela Vidal With The Award Of Excellence

by CCO STAFF

OCTOBER 18, 2021

Ivy Tech Community College Evansville Campus Chancellor Daniela Vidal was recognized by the Indiana Latino Institute with the Award of Excellence. Recipients for the 2021 Indiana Latino Institute Award of Excellence were chosen based on their leadership and contributions to the Latino community in Indiana.

The Indiana Latino Institute (ILI) is a statewide non-profit with headquarters in Indianapolis. Its mission is to improve health and advance education for the Indiana Latino community through statewide advocacy, research, and culturally responsive programs. The vision is to be the source of authority and catalyst for change on all aspects of Health and Education that affect the Indiana Latino Community.

At the Hispanic Heritage Month luncheon in Indianapolis, ILI honored leaders and organizations that have stepped up over-and-above their on-going responsibilities to ensure the Latino community had support and thrived. Some leaders have founded organizations, others were elected, and some have contributed resources, their expertise, and their time. During the past year, when Covid-19 disproportionately affected the Latino Hoosier community’s health, education, income, housing and more, some Latino-serving organizations and their leaders increased their efforts, raising Covid prevention awareness, mobilizing the community to get vaccinated, offering boxes of food, advising on housing and eviction threat, and more. 

Almost 20 years ago, Vidal was one of a small group of visionary Latinos in Evansville who created HOLA, a non-profit organization that has evolved as the Latino community has grown. The annual HOLA Latino Festival is now the premier Latino event in the region. HOLA mobilizes the community to volunteer at events, trains Latinos to serve as advocates, and collaborates with the community to raise funds for selected causes. She also served on ILI’s Legislative Advisory Committee and helped create the 2021 policy agenda. Vidal is recognized by the education and business sectors as a leading education, workforce, and economic development voice of the Latino community. 

Her professional experiences over the last 25 years have led to a wide and deep trajectory. Starting as a Chemical Engineer conducting product research for Procter and Gamble in Venezuela (her native country) and later Mead Johnson in Evansville, to various manufacturing roles with GE Plastics (now Sabic), then transitioning to Higher Education spending 10 years at USI and now as the first Latina Ivy Tech Chancellor in Evansville. 

Starting just a week before the 2020 pandemic shut down, Vidal has navigated with strength, optimism, and empathy the strange waters of the post-covid era and leading the come back to classes with great success.