Graciela P. Villanueva Removes Barriers at Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic

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When Graciela P. Villanueva was a child, she went to the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic (YVFWC) in Toppenish, Washington, for her first dental appointment. She remembers sitting in the chair, the hygienist cleaning her teeth, a service that would not have been possible without YVFWC since her parents had no access to medical insurance.

Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic was trusted with the healthcare of each member of her family. Her four grandparents had settled in the Toppenish area, and all four of their death certificates were signed by a YVFWC physician.

Villanueva’s ultimate goal was to find her way back to work at one of the Farm Workers’ clinics and provide that same support that her family needed and received.

“I’m not that great with bodily fluids, but HR was the perfect way to do that,” says Villanueva, who is currently the chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic. “I’m supporting the employees who provide the quality care our patients need and deserve. In that way, I’m supporting my grandparents.”

A Family History of Removing Barriers

Some of Villanueva’s earliest memories are of being on the picket line with her father, who was a labor advocate for farm workers to have fair wages, schedules, and the ability to wash their hands before meals and after going to the bathroom. Her mother was also heavily involved in the community supporting new and young mothers and families.

 “I’m supporting the employees who provide the quality care our patients need and deserve. In that way, I’m supporting my grandparents.”

Graciela P. Villanueva

This year, Villanueva learned a new story about her grandmother from her uncle. In Mexico, her grandmother was the godmother of the neighborhood. Everyone went to her for help. Once, when a property owner blocked off access to the community water well, her grandmother took action. She organized the neighborhood, they went to the authorities, and the wall to the well was broken down.

“Most of my family has worked to remove barriers of some kind, so that was my mentality growing up,” she says. “That’s just the work that you do. You don’t ever just think about yourself. You think about, ‘How can I make the community better?’”

Villanueva herself follows in her family’s advocacy and community work footsteps through her work on the Yakima School District Board for the past ten years, as well as her work through Planned Parenthood.

She first thought a career in social work might be the place for her. But a temporary job as a benefits and payroll administrator presented possibilities for a career in HR. “It’s doing the same advocacy work in a different setting,” Villanueva explains. “I’m helping employees. I’m making sure they have the support they need and helping the employer ensure that they are doing all the right things to have a good, healthy, productive work environment.”

Villanueva built her career not only in HR but also in nonprofits, spending a few years at Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho before joining where she was meant to be all along: the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic.

Growing at the Clinic

Her very first job at the Farm Workers Clinic was in 2006 as a provider recruiting manager. It was work she hadn’t done before in a direct way, and it was an opportunity for growth.

“I was able to learn and experiment with different ways of doing things,” Villanueva says, noting that her leader was a big supporter of her growth. “I’ve been very lucky to be able to direct the work that I do in a way that supports the organization. It brings a lot of value in seeing the impact that the department has on not just the employees but ultimately to the patients who need and deserve quality care.”

Villanueva served as the clinic’s recruiting director for fourteen years before stepping into the CHRO seat in 2020. The past two years especially have been an exciting and transformational period for the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic. In August 2022, Christy Trotter—who grew up in the Valley and began her career at the Farm Workers Clinic—was appointed CEO and has been guiding the organization through its first-ever strategic development planning.

“We’re being intentional in how we do and plan our work to ensure we’re doing the work our patients need,” says Villanueva, who is a key player in one of the pillars of this new strategy: people and learning.

The United States is facing a healthcare workforce shortage and it’s affecting small towns and major cities alike. Yakima has developed its own programs over the years to support its workforce, but the strategic plan will focus on pulling together its existing programs, identifying gaps, and planning what needs to happen over the next three years.

One of Villanueva’s goals is to ensure that every Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic employee has a career path and that they have the support they need to follow it. The initiatives are in progress and may include tuition reimbursement programs, scholarship programs, flexible scheduling, and removing degree barriers while still maintaining high standards.

To be an HR leader reporting directly to a CEO, who understands the importance of focusing on employees, is an exciting opportunity for Villanueva. “For so many years, everything was about the numbers and the productivity,” she says. “All of those things are so important, but you can’t do any of that without the people.”

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