Veronica “Ronnye” Stidvent

Veronica “Ronnye” Vargas Stidvent is the President of Stidvent Partners. Through twenty years of experience building strategic alliances and executing in high-pressure environments, Ronnye has seen the power of connecting organizations and individuals to reach a common goal. She helps her clients identify the nexus among public policy, business initiatives, and philanthropic efforts to develop proposals, leverage public policies to advance their priorities, and execute corporate citizenship initiatives to achieve their results.

Her breadth and depth of expertise and network reflect a career that spans the government, corporate, and non-profit sectors.

Ronnye developed and implemented policy at the highest levels of the federal government. In 2003, she served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President for Policy, where she worked with the President’s senior advisors, Cabinet Secretaries, and agency staff to advance the President’s policy agenda. After unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate in 2004, she served as Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she worked on the agency’s regulatory agenda. While at the Department, she was tasked with leading the Administration’s efforts on comprehensive immigration reform. Previously, she served as Special Assistant to the Administrator in the Office of Information Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). She possesses the rare experience of developing and reviewing federal rulemaking at the agency level, the OMB, and the White House, giving her a rare and valuable perspective that she shares with her clients.

She has worked extensively with private sector leaders on workforce development and training issues. In 2014, she was appointed Chancellor of WGU Texas, a non-profit online university serving more than 9,000 Texans. As Chancellor, she increased enrollment by more than 75%, working with state policy officials, employers, and community leaders to develop strategies to meet workforce needs. Prior to her time at WGU Texas, Ronnye served as Head of Education and Training at Dimensional Fund Advisors, where she developed a global education and training program for their client-facing personnel.

Ronnye Stidvent has also worked in the higher education sector. As the inaugural Director of the Center for Politics and Governance at the University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs, she developed and implemented a strategic plan for achieving the Center’s mission, and she established long-term collaborations and resources with individuals, corporations, and foundations.

She designed and launched Subiendo, an intensive leadership program for high school students that continues to enjoy donor and community support.

Ronnye has served on numerous boards and commissions. In 2016, she was appointed by Governor Abbott to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cultural Affairs to address the needs of Texas’s changing demographics. In 2009, Governor Perry appointed Ronnye appointed to a six-year term on the Texas Commission on Human Rights, overseeing the management and budget of the Civil Rights Division of the Texas Workforce Commission. She served on the Boards of Directors of The Texas Tribune, the Texas Association of Business, and the North Texas Commission. She has also served on the University of Texas Commission of 125 and the 2009 Travis County Elections Study Group.

She has been honored with the University of Texas at Austin Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award. She is also the recipient of the El Paso in Austin Trailblazer Award and the National Association of Hispanic Publications Latina Role Model Award.

A native of El Paso, Texas, Ronnye received her B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and her J.D. from Yale Law School.  She and her husband live in Austin with their four children.