Nilvia Reyes Rodriguez: Taking leadership role for diversity, equity and inclusion

When Reyes Rodriguez was 10, the family settled in New Hampton. Her mother, who had earned a college degree in Mexico, opened a Mexican store and restaurant. She became very involved with the chamber of commerce and in the community.

“It all started with my mom,” Reyes Rodriguez said of her own service to her community.

In 2012, Reyes Rodriguez was 19 and her sister Monica was 22 when DACA – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – was established to protect eligible immigrant youth who came to the United States when they were children from deportation. They are called Dreamers.

This prompted the sisters to start a nonprofit, DREAM Iowa, to assist other immigrants who were in the same situation.

“We worked from our childhood bedroom on our cell phones using our neighbor’s Wi-Fi,” Reyes Rodriguez said. “It has been my passion project for the last 10 years.

“We wanted to be immigrant advocates,” she said. “We envisioned a statewide network.”

Today, DREAM Iowa is just that. It was incorporated in 2017.

“We are finally in a place where we can hire permanent staff,” said Reyes Rodriguez, 29.

The organization’s mission is to “stimulate and carry forward the gradual shift from generational poverty to generational wealth for immigrant Iowans.” DREAM Iowa takes a three-pronged approach to this, Reyes Rodriguez noted.

It sponsors annual youth leadership summits geared toward middle school through college students.

“We give them the tools to further their education and explore career paths. We give them the tools for success,” she said. “Last year, we had more than 250 participants. It has grown and grown and grown.”

The nonprofit also provides adult financial literacy seminars for immigrants and refugees.

“We partner with trusted organizations and focus on everything from budgeting to homeownership and retirement. We are interested in their long-term holistic financial health,” Reyes Rodriguez said.

Additionally, DREAM Iowa aims to educate the general public in Iowa about immigrants.

“We want to share their stories, remove the stigma. We are everyday people,” she explained.

While the sisters nurtured their nonprofit, Reyes Rodriquez also pursued a college education, earning a public administration degree with a minor in history.

She had served as a migrant and seasonal farmworker outreach specialist with IowaWORKS, helping job seekers and working with partner agencies to identify and address barriers to employment. But Reyes Rodriguez recently accepted a position with United Way as director of community impact and engagement.

“We will be working with nonprofits … to see how we can make a greater impact with grant giving,” she said.

Laurie Everhardt, of the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, nominated Reyes Rodriguez for the 20 Under 40 recognition.

“Nilvia has been a thoughtful member of the Racial Equity Advisory Committee at (CFNEIA). This group is taking on the important work of helping CFNEIA become a community leader and funder to work to reverse the systems of racism that exist in our communities.”

She also “serves as a commissioner of the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights and was president of the League of United Latin America Citizens Council 370, which she founded,” said Everhardt. “She led the council in partnering with the Waterloo Center for the Arts to co-host and plan the annual Latino Heritage Festival. She has been tapped as a speaker for events of the Cedar Valley Advocates for Immigrants and Refugee Rights and sociology classes at Hawkeye Community College.

“Nilvia has taken a leadership role in our community around diversity, equity and inclusion, and we look forward to her work in making the Cedar Valley a welcoming community for all.”

In addition to her work and volunteer commitments, Reyes Rodriguez is raising a young daughter, Sophia, 8.

“I take my role as a parent very seriously, and I have such a beautiful relationship with my daughter,” she said. “She’s been to marches and has popped up in Zoom meetings. She understands my work, and she is proud of me.

“She strives to follow that path. She made me buy her a wagon, and we pulled it around and cleaned up the neighborhood,” said Reyes Rodriguez. “She is also very civic-minded.”