* Photograph by Shane Van Boxtel / Image Studios
St. Norbert College
As an elementary school student in pancake‑flat North Dakota, Gratzia Villarroel used her crayons to draw picture after picture of majestic mountains.
Her teachers were initially perplexed by the imagery, but Villarroel was born in Bolivia in the heart of the Andes Mountains. She has since spent her life moving between some of the flattest and most mountainous regions of North and South America. And while today she makes her home in mountain-free Northeast Wisconsin, she continues to dream of new heights.
Aiming high, moving mountains and lifting up others have been themes during Villarroel’s 29‑year tenure as a professor of political science and international studies at St. Norbert College, where she says she found inspiration first and foremost in her students.
“Students really encourage you, because you see them so excited about the future,” she says. “One thing I’ve absolutely loved about being a professor is being able to help people move to the next stages.”
That includes seeing former students like Casa ALBA Melanie Executive Director Amanda Garcia leading in Northeast Wisconsin — as well as having the opportunity to work side‑by‑side with those former students to create change. Villarroel says she has seen and admired the strength and resilience of Greater Green Bay, powered by its incredible people, for three decades. Although it has traditionally lacked diversity, she says the community has always been welcoming, collaborative and a place to achieve social mobility, particularly for immigrants and members of the Latinx community who need to be lifted up now, perhaps more than ever.
“I think the Latinx community is very resilient. I think people are working together, and that’s where the community makes a difference,” she says.
Villarroel hopes her students take her advice to “be part of the attentive public.” As a passionate lifelong learner, Villarroel says riding the waves of change is critical in education and citizenship today.
Villarroel’s time at St. Norbert recently came to an end, and she has embarked on a career of consulting work through ElevareNova, a company she founded to provide schools and training-focused organizations with strategic foresight, inclusive learning and leadership design services. Villarroel says she hopes ElevareNova will help organizations create innovative programs that prepare learners and leaders for tomorrow’s challenges — something upon which she has been sharply focused throughout her career, including her nonprofit and volunteer work. She recently received Foresight Certification from the University of Houston, reflecting both her commitment to and knowledge of futurism.
Villarroel’s service to the community runs deep, as she has served as president of Casa ALBA Melanie, co‑founder and co-president of Latinx Rising, co-founder of Latina Entrepreneurs and co-founder of the Northeast Wisconsin Latino Education Taskforce. She is a board member for YMCA, through which she helped develop a model for a bilingual, bicultural charter school. She also serves on the board of Envision Greater Green Bay and as a member of Amigos en Azul Green Bay, and she has worked to establish a Latino District in Green Bay.
“What I’m most proud of overall,” she says, “is bringing people together so that we can improve our communities, whether they be local, national or international.”
