EMPRENDEDORAS
NOSOTRAS LATINAS
YANIDSI VELEZ ‘A passionate
advocate for Latino Communities’
F
or 15 years, Yanidsi Velez has been a passionate advocate for Latino and most vulnerable communities in Florida and across the country. Her work has touched on the intersection of human and civil rights, social justice, Immigration, affordable housing, food insecurity, access to healthcare, education equality, and economic and community development. Yanidsi is recognized as an expert in nonprofit management, capacity building and Latino demographic trends. Her initial stages in working with the community started in late 90st when she collaborated in two major Public Relations campaigns for Ser de Puerto Rico and Un Puerto Rico Libre de Drogas; simultaneously she became an active church member which allowed her to work with people who didn’t have hope and needed a hand to direct them to a better future and a better quality of life. Yanidsi is currently the Florida and Southeast Director of Hispanic Federation (HF), one of the nation’s largest Latinx advocacy and service organization. She is responsible for all operations, programs, and public policy advocacy for the multistate region. Through her work, she helped develop the largest Latino voter outreach campaign in Central Florida for the 2020 election, coordinates the regional efforts for HF’s Hurricane and Earthquake Emergency Response, Latino COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, and serves as an advocate for the thousands of displaced Puerto Rican families who are rebuilding their lives in Central Florida and around the State. Prior to joining HF, Yanidsi served in various leadership roles for the National Council of La Raza (now UnidosUS) and National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). In 2008 she founded Hispanos Al Dia, a faith-based initiative whose primary mission was to help settle newcomers to Florida, including providing English literacy, citizenship skills, and social services. Yanidsi was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and raised in the La Tierra de Gigantes (Land of Giants) Carolina municipality. She is a first-generation college student and has been deeply inspired by her entrepreneurial parents, as well as her two grandfathers who both served in the United States Army during WWII. Yanidsi MARZO 2021
“You were born with the ability to change someone’s life. Don’t ever waste it.” —Anonymous currently lives in Orlando, Florida with her supportive husband and children. In the last 10 years have influenced, empowered, and mobilized over 2 million of Latinos in the State of Florida through educational programs and campaigns. Her public service trajectory has been an open book; the Central Florida community have seen her grow, and today we celebrate her great contribution, service, and leadership. 23
