Johanna Perez Ruiz | A Servant-Hearted Leader
Article Written by: Tiffany Anderson
Examples of healthy leadership in our current world feel scarce. Power-hungry, greedy heads of state focus more on control and lining their own pockets than truly leading their people. But what exactly makes someone a good leader? Depending on who you ask, you’ll receive a different answer. For us at the Hispanic Alliance, we believe that impactful leadership starts with a heart and mind dedicated to serving others.
Servant-hearted leaders are passionate about the work they do, and they bring a tremendous amount of energy to what they’re building or refining. These individuals never stop showing up and speaking on behalf of their community; their strength lies in championing new and better ways to access resources and break down barriers.
In 2026, the Hispanic Alliance continues to grow and expand its leadership focus, and we wanted to hear from those who’ve been part of that servant leadership model from the very beginning. As one of the founding board members, Johanna Ruiz has witnessed the organization’s evolution for the past fifteen years.
In the first year of its existence, she remarked how the organization already held so much potential from the start. “Honestly, I didn’t have any doubts we would be where we are today. But, of course, I knew that would take time and many years of building it from scratch.” During that first year, founding members worked tirelessly to establish the brand and the services they’d provide.
Together, Johanna and others laid the groundwork with a vision of bridging different cultures in the Greenville Latino community. “We really wanted to be an organization that opened doors and set the stage for our community. So, we focused on finding solutions to barriers that Hispanic and Latino people faced. At first, we struggled with what services to provide, but ultimately we knew we had to make changes that would affect every person in the community.”
Over the years, Johanna has watched her once small community blossom into something much bigger. And with her role as the Director of Growth and Community Engagement at Molina Healthcare, she often experiences the intersection of Hispanic nonprofit work and her career in healthcare.
“When we started the Hispanic Alliance, healthcare had been a barrier for so many. Lots of families didn’t have insurance, didn’t understand the medical system, and then they needed resources and information on top of that.” When developing the initial four pillars, the Hispanic Alliance saw this need in the community and made the Health Team one of the first created.
Fifteen years ago, Latinos moving to the Greenville area needed a lot of information for the necessities: finding a job, navigating the healthcare and school systems, and learning the language. Not even two decades ago, most of the Hispanic families in the Upstate were mainly first-generation Latinos.
Now, the community's needs have a broader reach. “Our kids are growing up affected by different barriers than their parents experienced. And as much as we work with young adults to prepare them for college and the workforce, we need to focus also on our elderly population.” In Johanna’s perspective, the next step to leadership in the Hispanic community is looking at the community as a whole rather than separate programs directed towards different groups of people.
Almost two decades later, many founding board members have since moved on to serve their community in other capacities. For Johanna, serving on Hispanic nonprofit boards is one of the biggest ways for her to use her voice. When asked about how she’s able to help her community through advocacy, she said, “I think for me, I have to continue to stand up and speak for my people, and I’m sometimes the only Latina in the room. That means I’m using my voice for my community; I want to show people we have a place at the table.”
As we look to the future of the Hispanic Alliance and the work we continue to do in our community, Johanna’s insights hinge on how organizations move forward with the help of one another, sharing connections, resources, and reach. “It’s a dream of mine to join these other nonprofits and work towards the same goals. I’ve seen too much competition between organizations, and I feel like that’s a huge barrier for us. In unity comes strength, and if we all move in the same direction, we’ll be able to accomplish a lot more.”
Through her nonprofit work and healthcare career, Johanna’s goal is to empower the Hispanic community and give them the resources they need to live life to the fullest. Her personal experience as a young mother with limited resources in a new place gave her a heart for those in similar situations.
“I found so much support through places like the Hispanic Alliance when I first started out. For those families wondering how they navigate these systems without help, the Hispanic Alliance gives them the support and leadership they need.”
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