Silvia Velez is Growing Leadership in the Latino Community

Some of the most important community work happens behind the scenes. For Silvia Velez, that work has meant more than 15 years of helping build the structure that allows the Latino Center of the Midlands to serve Omaha families, students, and the broader Latino community.

Velez joined the Latino Center of the Midlands in January 2010 and today serves as its Chief Operating Officer. Over the years, she has taken on increasingly senior operational roles, including Administrative Service Coordinator and Director of Operations before becoming COO. In her current role, she oversees the organization’s day-to-day administrative and operational functions, helping keep its programs and services running effectively. 

Her tenure at the Center has unfolded alongside an organization that has continued to grow with the needs of the community. Originally organized in 1971 as the Chicano Awareness Center, the organization evolved into the Latino Center of the Midlands as its mission expanded to address the changing needs of Omaha’s Latino community. Today, the Center provides support in areas including education, workforce development, health, and leadership. 

That growth requires more than strong programs; it requires strong operations. In 2025 alone, the Latino Center reported serving hundreds of adult education students, hiring 90 Siembra Nebraska interns, and providing 106 free mammograms through its Healthy Communities work. The organization also conducted 1,878 interventions to address attendance barriers and supported 156 young people through its Ollin and Xochikalli leadership groups. 

Velez is now helping lead operations during one of the Center’s biggest chapters yet. The organization is undergoing a $10 million renovation and expansion of its South Omaha headquarters, a project that will increase the facility’s footprint by nearly 50 percent. The expanded space is designed to bring more programs together under one roof, including modernized classrooms for GED, English language learning, citizenship and literacy programs, dedicated youth areas, community spaces and a teaching kitchen. 

The scale of the project makes Velez’s role especially significant. While construction transforms the longtime headquarters on South 24th Street, the Center has continued providing services from a temporary location just one block away. The organization says the relocation was designed to ensure services continue without interruption while construction moves forward, with the renovated headquarters expected to be operational in early 2027.

Much of Velez’s work happens behind the scenes, making sure the systems are in place, staff have what they need, and the organization can keep moving forward. After more than 15 years at the Latino Center, that steady presence has become part of how the organization has grown alongside the community it serves. Now, as the Latino Center’s new headquarters takes shape on South 24th Street, Velez is helping carry that work into its next chapter. The building may be new, but the purpose remains the same: creating opportunities, supporting families, and strengthening Omaha’s Latino community.