Yholima Vargas-Pedroza, ESL Coordinator under the College and Career Readiness department at Alamance Community College, is a finalist for the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award for her contributions in education, performing arts, and service to the community. The United Way of Alamance County honored Vargas-Pedroza for her accomplishments at a recent volunteer recognition luncheon in Burlington.
Nominated for the award by Jennifer Mock, Director of ACC’s College and Career Readiness department, Vargas-Pedroza spent more than 260 hours volunteering in Alamance County. Among these efforts are hosting diversity, equity and inclusion workshops for local public school staff and law enforcement officers through the FOP (Fraternity of Police), volunteering as a member of Impact Alamance’s Bridge Team, CPAT- Community Police Advisory Team, Burlington’s Dream Center, and mentoring Elon students through service learning.
In addition, Vargas-Pedroza is also the Co-Chair of the Esperanza Festival. Now in its third year, the daylong event held in downtown Graham, NC spotlights Hispanic culture with food, music, dance and cultural exchange.
“Yholima has made a community impact by using her voice to advocate, and uses her talents as a performer and painter to lift others up within underserved and underrepresented populations around Alamance County,” wrote Marcy Green- Impact Alamance in her nomination.
Vargas-Pedroza founded the Huepa! Culture and Arts Institute, a dance academy that promotes Afro-Colombian performing arts and cultural identity in 2015 in Durham. Since Huepa Culture moved to Alamance, it has partnered up with Burlington’s CityGate Dream Center, which offers programs and events serving the Alamance County Hispanic and Latinx community.
Vargas-Pedroza said she named the dance academy ‘Huepa!’ because in Colombia, when people dance, they say ‘Huepa!’ which is a word expressing life, happiness and joy. Since her arrival to the United States, Vargas-Pedroza has used performing arts to promote self- respect, self-identity as well as cultural understanding of the diversity in our communities. Vargas-Pedroza has founded three dance academies with the same vision and commitment. She brought the idea of creating a Colombian dance academy here similar to the first one she founded in 2002 when she lived in Calgary, Canada.
The United Way of Alamance County will forward nominations to the Governor's Volunteer Award program. A commission reviews county recommendations and awards that are presented in the state’s counties. A winner drawn from the finalist field will be presented with a gold medallion for service in North Carolina.