The Value of a Mentor - Episode 139 - Wichita Chamber Business Accelerator - Yolanda Camarena

Posted by: Hannah Crickman on Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Over the Wichita Business Accelerator Podcast's summer break, we revisit some of our favorite episodes. -- Journey Unseen podcast series with Yolanda Camarena

Yolanda Camarena has been a dedicated leader for the past 40 years advocating for the Latino community, in the areas of education, community development and philanthropy. As a first generation student in the 70’s she experienced the many obstacles Latino students faced trying to get a college education. She vowed when she was able to help ease that burden for other Latino students she would assist them to fulfill their goals of getting a college degree. Her career background has been in Higher Education Administration. She served as Director of Admissions for Newman University in Wichita, Kansas in the late 80’s and later took a position as Associate Director of Graduate Programs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. During her time at Harvard she and several of the Latino graduate students founded the Journal of Hispanic Policy. The Journal continues to be a formidable source for Hispanic policy research at the Kennedy School of Government. Upon her return to Wichita she served as the Regional Coordinator for the LULAC Educational Service Center for several years. She currently serves on the Board of the Kansas Hispanic Education and Development Foundation, Board of Trustees for Newman University, Board of Directors for the Wichita Community Foundation Chair of the Schools and Scholarship Committee for Harvard College, Hispanic Scholarship Fund Advisory Committee, Board member for League 42, and serves on various city and community organizations.

Ms. Camarena holds a Bachelors degree in Education from Wichita State University, a Master’s in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letter from Newman University in 2015. She has two daughters, Gena and Marisa, and her husband is Gene Camarena.

Yolanda Camarena
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On this episode we discuss:

Growing up with five sisters
Family values growing up in south Texas
Lessons learned from moving around in a military family
Being a first generation college student
Being active and engaged on campus
H.A.L.O. (Hispanic American Leadership Organization)
Making decisions with intention
The value of the relationships in your life
Being the only Latina at Harvard
Why mentoring became so important in her life
What motivates Yolanda
The Push

Listen on popular podcast directories and aggregators, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pandora, and ICT Podcast Network or using the player above. Send feedback on this show and/or suggestions for future guests or topics by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or emailing communications@wichitachamber.org.

Wichita Chamber Business Accelerator is a weekly podcast devoted to supporting and learning from area business owners. Released every Wednesday, it's produced by Forge Podcast Co, managed by the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce.

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