Alumni Spotlight: Ivon Granaldi

Congratulations to Ivon Z. Granaldi, a former UA-PTC student and employee, who is the recipient of the 2018 UA-PTC Alumni Cultural Diversity Award. She was honored at the annual Cultural Diversity Awards Program held on Friday, February 23, 2018.

Ivon is a proud “Puerto Rican by birth” and grew up in New Jersey. She joined the UA-PTC staff in 2005 and worked in the TRiO Program, the Title III Program and in the UA-PTC Foundation Office. While she was at UA-PTC, Ivon served as treasurer and president of the AAWTYC organization. She is currently a Program Associate and Grants Disbursement Manager at Arkansas Community Colleges.  Last year, Ivon re-connected with the college and serves as President of the newly-formed UA-PTC Alumni & Friends Organization.

Having grown up in a bilingual household, Ivon speaks English and Spanish fluently - a helpful skill in the UA-PTC Foundation Office as more Spanish-speaking students enrolled at the college.  Her patient in translating forms for students, who spoke very little English, created some lasting friendships – students often stopped by the office simply to spend a few minutes speaking to a friend in their native language.

For Ivon, diversity not only makes the world more interesting, entertaining and fun, it is part of her core values.