Member Since July 2023
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About
Felida Villarreal is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas, with over 9 years of accounting and financial management experience in the corporate and nonprofit sector. Currently serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA), a nonprofit community based organization, she is proactively leading workforce development strategies to promote economic mobility of South Texans. Felida holds a Master Degree of Accountancy from the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley and a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration with a major in accounting from the University of Texas – Pan American. Felida is very passionate about higher education attainment and expanding accessibility to equitable education opportunities. She believes education builds the best workforce and through human capital investment, our communities can enhance employment opportunities and impact sustainable economic growth. She is experienced in implementing and maintaining regional alliances for innovative resource development and public funding strategies in the educational non-profit sector. Furthermore, she has demonstrated success in ensuring fiscal integrity and compliance with public and private grant funded requirements.
Felida Villarreal
Published content
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For Fast Company Executive Board Member Felida Villarreal, cultivating growth mindsets on her team was crucial for starting a new chapter for the nonprofit VIDA.
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Fast Company Executive Board member Felida Villarreal and her team are helping people overcome obstacles and achieve economic mobility.
expert panel
20 tips to overcome life's challenges and move ahead. No matter what type of career path you choose to follow in life, it's essential to develop tough skin and a positive, healthy mindset about your talents, goals, and purpose. Whether it's a new job opportunity, a promotion, or a business deal you're looking to close, it's normal to face plenty of rejections and hearing a lot of "nos" before you get to the yeses. Talking through your frustrations with a trusted mentor or reading about inspirational success stories and how others have been able to overcome difficult setbacks in business and life, will remind you that failure can also be a pathway to success. Here, 20 Fast Company Executive Board members each offer one tip for aspiring career professionals who need a little motivation to keep going despite rejections.
expert panel
16 ways to find a happy medium in reaching your personal and professional life goals. Working a nine-to-five career can be overwhelming depending on the types of responsibilities you have on your daily plate. Add to the mix, the pursuit of a certification or degree through continued education after work—while building on personal friendships or raising a new family—and it's understandable for anyone to feel burned out from a lack of work-life balance if they're struggling. Below, Fast Company Executive Board members each offer one tip for maintaining a healthy lifestyle while juggling work duties and attending evening classes.
expert panel
Don't rush your business decision-making process. There are certain financial dealings that can make or break a company's ability to thrive—whether the marketplace is up, down, or all over the place. That's why it's so important to put a strategy in place (and stick with it) that aligns with the company's core values, purpose, and longevity. Without that, it's very easy to become distracted by unproven trends and potential investments that may or may not be the best fit for your organization right now. To help leaders become better decision-makers when it comes to business and finance, here, 20 experts from Fast Company Executive Board each share one financial trap that leadership should avoid.
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Sep 20, 2023
The historical disparity between the nonprofit and for-profit sectors illustrates the need for cross-sector strategies to improve operational efficiency in nonprofits.
Company details
Valley Initiative For Development and Advancement
Company bio
Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA) is a community-based, nonprofit 501 (c)(3) agency. Created in 1995, VIDA is the result of a local effort led by community leaders of Valley Interfaith and private-industry business leaders. The impetus was the need to empower the underserved residents of our region with the tools, education, and training needed to become self-sufficient while fueling the growth of existing employers and increasing recruitment of new investment to the area by developing a highly skilled workforce. Since its inception, VIDA’s mission has remained constant–to formulate new institutional relationships in the Rio Grande Valley that simultaneously address employers’ needs for skilled workers while linking the area’s unemployed and underemployed with high-skilled, high-wage jobs identified in the region. VIDA works closely with the business sector, training providers, and community-based organizations to develop a skilled workforce that will meet the demands of employers in the Rio Grande Valley.