Gladys Vega receives National Leadership Award
By Cary Shuman
Director Gladys Vega
Two thousand miles from Chelsea, in a packed ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Denver, Gladys Vega received the most illustrious award at the nation’s most prestigious civic competition.
Vega, the executive director of La Colaborativa, was the recipient of the National Civic League’s Leader Award at the All-America City Awards program. Vega was honored for her exceptional leadership of La Colaborativa, the Chelsea-based organization that she has built into a national model, empowering immigrants in the city while leading a distribution of millions of pounds of food, an incredible effort that Vega stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Gladys Vega humbly spoke of her staff’s contribution to La Colaborativa’s vital place in the community during an interviewing following her inspiring acceptance speech. Vega joined La Colaborativa in a non-adminstrative position 36 years ago when it was known as the Chelsea Collaborative. She has won numerous awards and has been named “Bostonian of the Year” by the Boston Globe.
“I was sitting by myself thinking about how far we have come for a city that so for many years was ignored,” said Vega. “In the late 1980s, people lost hope in our city. But we continued to get involved and get organized. When we win this award, it’s not about the award, it’s about each individual life that we have worked hard to affect in a positive way.”
“We’re winning now not because the table was made years ago. We’re winning now because we went through a lot of struggles to have the table set for generations to come,” said Vega.
In a selfless display of the collaboration that symbolizes La Colaborativa, Vega said the award is to be shared by everyone in her organization.
“People always say Gladys Vega and the award, but is should say La Colaborativa because Gladys Vega doesn’t win awards without my staff and the community we serve,” said Vega. “People like Dini, Norieliz, Carlos, Herman, my other Carlos – we have a team and all of our staff are community members, too, and they truly care about our community and they do amazing work.”
Vega said that City Manager Fidel Maltez has done an exceptional job in the top leadership position in Chelsea.
“Fidel has been an incredible gift of joy in our city,” said Vega. “He has taken a city that was struck hard by the pandemic and now has financial challenges because a lot of federal funding aid is gone for the people we serve. So, Fidel and all of us together have to continue to join forces.”
Gladys Vega’s niece, City Councilor Tanairi Garcia, wasn’t about to let her aunt deflect all of the excellence for which she was honored.
“She’s just a powerhouse,” lauded Garcia, whose sister, Kelly, also serves on the Council “She is the reason why we have run for election. She has paved the way for many, many Latinos in our community. It’s an honor to be present in Denver and see her win this important award. And the cherry on top was to win the All-America Award for our city, a city we’ve all worked to collectively put on the map.”