Servicios de La Raza Names CU Denver’s Antonio Farias To Board of Directors

Servicios de La Raza, the largest Latino-oriented nonprofit agency of its kind in Colorado, has named Antonio Farias, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Colorado Denver, to its board of directors.

Farias will join Servicios de La Raza’s board members and leaders in growing the organization’s scale and impact as it works to provide all members of Colorado’s Latino community with the opportunities, and the support systems to achieve equity, self-sufficiency, and self-determination to lead a healthy quality of life. A longtime educator, Farias brings more than 20 years experience educating and elevating underrepresented students and advising academic and military leaders on impactful diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

Farias’s appointment will support Servicios de La Raza’s long-standing efforts to close the equity gap for members of Colorado’s Latino community by providing pathways to educational advancement. The move also signifies CU Denver’s commitment to making higher education more accessible and improving outcomes for learners from the state’s historically underserved communities.

Over its 50-year history, Servicios de La Raza has made its mark in health services and in serving as an advocate for Latino health equity. More recently, Servicios de La Raza has expanded its footprint to reach more areas in Colorado, with the organization vaccinating more than 10,000 people in the state’s Latino community.

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CU Denver’s relationship with Servicios de la Raza further enables the University’s efforts to make higher education work for all. Servicios de la Raza’s experience in providing health and human services to Colorado’s Latino community positions CU Denver to continue to provide culturally responsive learning experiences that prepare individuals in this community for success, both in and beyond the classroom.

The relationship between CU Denver and Servicios de La Raza has grown in recent years as the interests of the organizations have increasingly aligned. On the board of Servicios de la Raza, Farias will join John Ronquillo, Ph.D., assistant professor of nonprofit and public management at CU Denver, who was appointed in September 2019. 

“Servicios de La Raza has significantly grown both its reach and impact over the past three years. I’m confident that Antonio’s experience as an educator and as a leader dedicated to helping organizations reach diverse communities will accelerate our next phase of growth, said Armando L. Martín, board president of Servicios de La Raza and CEO of XL Edge.

Named as CU Denver’s Vice Chancellor of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in March 2021,  Farias has worked to develop and implement the university’s strategic plan to become an Equity-Serving Institution. 

“Building and cultivating a thriving Latinx community here in Colorado requires a holistic approach as well as meaningful, lasting partnerships with organizations that have historically been on the front lines of demanding full and equal civil rights. Servicios de La Raza has done incredible work in this space, providing essential advocacy and human services, and I’m honored to serve as a member of the board in ways that continue the bedrock mission of Servicios by putting our community before self, as we continue to expand access and opportunity to educational pathways to success,” said Farias, who prior to joining CU Denver led systems-level approaches to DEI at the University of Florida, Wesleyan University, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

“The attributes of a culture that don’t change are what makes it rich. What makes the work that Servicios de la Raza does so important is that it addresses the facets of culture that must adapt for its people to thrive well into the future,” added Ronquillo. “Servicios de La Raza infuses culture into how it designs and delivers its services. Bringing that cultural understanding to CU Denver will only accelerate the university’s progress toward its goals of improving equity, particularly in the Latino community,” added Ronquillo, who co-chaired CU Denver’s Equity Task Force and now co-chairs the university’s Institutional Equity Advocacy Council.

CU Denver’s commitment to equity and inclusion has already borne results. In its 2022 Best Colleges rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranked CU Denver #1 in Colorado (#55 in the nation) for social mobility. In October, University of Colorado Denver and Anschutz Medical Campus became the first research university in Colorado to be recognized as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education.