A Leader On The Come Up: Caren Aveldanez

It is a Tuesday afternoon, and after a long day of classes and training, the Latinx-Hispanic Union (LHU) has finally finished their meeting. This is their first executive team meeting for the spring of 2020 and Caren Aveldanez’s first meeting as the president of the organization.

Aveldanez is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a junior studying public health at Elon University.

When Aveldanez and I sat together to talk about her role in LHU, she mentioned that when first arriving at college, she had not planned to join any organizations. Like most students, she planned to be engaged in her classes and daily life.

That all changed when Aveldanez finally joined LHU. She mentioned how she grew deep connections with others that soon became like family to her. She began enjoying the people and the community that LHU represented.

“With LHU, I found a good group of solid friendships and a little family,” Aveldanez said.

The Latinx-Hispanic Union’s mission is to create unity in the Latinx/Hispanic community and promote diversity at Elon. It strives to advocate for issues that impact the lives of Latinx/Hispanic individuals. This is exactly what Aveldanez connected with and was passionate about.

Since her first year, Aveldanez has stepped into multiple roles within LHU—starting as their secretary, then vice president, and now president. She prepares for this new leadership role by first organizing her main goals. Also a member of other organizations, she said she finds preparation for her position most important for her success.

“I have to lay out what is it that I want to get done in my position, figure out who I am going to be working with and how we can best work together.”

Aveldanez states that before transitioning from secretary to vice president she shadowed the former vice president. “It was a very big jump,” Aveldanez said. “I went from taking minutes at meetings to helping the president make decisions.”

Now as president, Aveldanez said she wants to make sure that LHU remains a welcoming and inclusive organization for anyone interested in learning more about what they do and to have everyone on the exec team working and communicating well with each other.

“I like to learn from other people,” she said. “When I am working in a group I like to see what are other people’s leadership styles—what can I learn from the members that I am working with?”

Outside of LHU, Aveldanez continues taking on leadership roles in other organizations, serving as the event coordinator for the Elon German Club, working on campus, and taking part in community service at the City Gate Dream Center.

As a final question, I asked Aveldanez if she had any advice for people who want to take on leadership roles but are hesitant. Aveldanez said to take the chance. She reminded me how she started college not thinking about joining anything. However, after having someone encourage her to take on a role, she had a change of heart. Since then, it has worked wonders for her and everyone around her.

Taking leadership positions may seem like an anxious and fearful step, but you might find that it truly unlocks your potential and teaches you valuable skills.

“Taking that leap of faith for yourself and saying ‘I want to try this, I can do this’ is one of the biggest things,” Aveldanez said. “Trusting and believing in yourself.”