Anselmo Villarreal

Dr. Anselmo Villarreal has served as President and CEO of Southwest Key Programs since February 2021. Prior to this, he held the role of President and CEO of La Casa de Esperanza, Inc. (La Casa) a community-based organization dedicated to serving Waukesha’s low-income and Latino population since 1966. With 28 years of experience in non-profit management, Anselmo’s primary responsibility as President and CEO of La Casa was to provide strategic vision, planning, and direction of the organization under the guidance of the Board of Directors and in line with the organizational mission.

Dr. Villarreal completed two terms of 3 years each, with the Mexican government as the Wisconsin representative of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad, specifically as a member of the Economic Commission of the Institute, which addresses issues related to commerce, community reinvestment, consumer protection regulations, consumer credit, financial privacy and security, electronic banking and general financial services. He is an avid advocate for fair lending practices, fighting against predatory lending, and encouraging the use of banking services to the un-banking community. During his time with the Institute, they acted as advisors to Mexican Presidents Fox and Calderon.

Dr. Villarreal is a former member of the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board, and in 2004 was appointed by Wisconsin’s Governor Jim Doyle to be part of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

Dr. Villarreal has served on the Boards of the National Council of La Raza, The Alliance for Children and Families, Waukesha State Bank, and Southwest Key. He has served on the boards of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (Advisory Council Member), Mexican American Solidarity Foundation, Workforce Development Center, Wisconsin American Lung Association, Wisconsin Centro Legal, the Basic Needs Committee of the United Way, Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, Catholic Charities (Immigration Committee), Miller Brewing Baseball Park (Advisory Council Member) and Hispanic Health Community Resource Center. He has been involved with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, National Puerto Rican Coalition and the National Housing Action Coalition.

Dr. Villarreal successfully completed a Fellowship with the Denali Initiative and the Executive Education Program of Stanford University. He has received the following awards: Community Advocate award from the NAACP, Advocacy in Education award from the Waukesha County Technical College, the Sister Joanne Marie Kliebhan Outstanding Graduate Student Award, the Peter B. Goldberg Aramark Building Community Executive Leadership Award, Community Service award from the Wisconsin Puerto Rican Commission, the OHTLI award (the highest recognition given by the Mexican government to recognize the work of an individual that is done outside of Mexico), the Shining Star award from the Boy Scouts, and the Doug Jansson Leadership Award from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. He has received keys to the City of Waukesha from two City of Waukesha Mayors.

Dr. Villarreal began his career in the federal government of México, the country of his birth and college education. After graduating from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, he came to the United States to advance his career by earning a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 1986. In 2014, Dr. Villarreal earned his Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service at Cardinal Stritch University.