Sindy Benavides, Founding Executive Director, Aquí: The Accountability Movement

For Sindy Benavides, the American Dream is more than an idea, it is the experience that shaped her life’s work. This transformative impact is precisely what earns her a well-deserved place as one of our Top 10 Latino Voices of 2026

A Honduran-American immigrant, Benavides has spent her career expanding access to the opportunities she found for the generations coming behind her, particularly young people, women, and immigrants. Today, as the founding executive director of Aquí: The Accountability Movement, she is building a national platform to advance a more powerful narrative about Latinos while challenging the institutions and systems that shape whose voices are heard, whose contributions are recognized, and who gets the opportunity to lead.

It is the latest chapter in a career defined not simply by advocacy, but by institution-building.

Before launching Aquí, Benavides served as president and CEO of Latino Victory, where she helped drive record numbers of Latinos running for office at the local, state, and federal levels. Under her leadership, the organization also posted its strongest fundraising year for both its foundation and federal PAC.

Earlier, she made history as CEO of LULAC, the nation’s oldest Hispanic civil rights organization, becoming the first woman, immigrant, and millennial to lead the organization in its nearly 90-year history. Her career has also included leadership roles at Voto Latino, the Democratic National Committee, and the Office of Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine.

But her influence extends well beyond the titles she has held.

Benavides has helped build some of the networks and institutions that strengthen Latino civic and community leadership, including the Virginia Latino Higher Education Network, the Virginia Coalition of Immigrant Rights, and the Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Action. She also continues to invest in her Honduran community as president of the board of the Honduran American Association.

That combination of national leadership and community-rooted work is central to her impact. She has moved between institutions, movements, and communities, building relationships and creating infrastructure that can outlast any single organization or administration.

Much of that work happens away from the spotlight: the coalition-building, the difficult conversations, the relationships cultivated over years, and the persistent work of making sure Latino voices are not simply invited into the room, but have a meaningful role in shaping what happens there.

Benavides understands that representation is only the beginning. Her work is about building the conditions for people to participate, lead, and change the systems around them.

From a Honduran-American immigrant to a nationally recognized civic leader and institution builder, Sindy Benavides has spent her career turning representation into infrastructure. From Virginia to the national stage, she has built the networks, organizations, and pathways that give Latino communities greater voice, greater access, and a stronger stake in the institutions that impact their lives.