About Civil's founder
A visionary strategist dedicated to transformative progress
Midy Aponte-Vargas is a seasoned strategist and advisor with over 20 years of leadership experience spanning the public, private, and philanthropic sectors. As the founder of Civil Strategies, she collaborates with mission-driven enterprises and foundations to drive growth, amplify impact, and deliver solutions tailored to their strategic goals.
A career built on addressing complex issues through community collaboration.
Early Career: Public Engagement and Crisis Solutions
Midy began her career in Miami, tackling public health challenges at Golin and the American Legacy Foundation (now the Truth Initiative), where she played a critical role in advancing nationwide tobacco prevention and cessation efforts. She worked in collaboration with more than a dozen state health departments, designing and implementing public health campaigns that contributed to a significant decline in youth smoking rates and supported adult cessation programs. Her work leveraged behavioral science, targeted messaging, and community engagement, ensuring that interventions resonated with different populations and led to measurable public health outcomes.
Building on this foundation, Midy transitioned to The Walker Marchant Group in Washington, D.C., where she honed her expertise in crisis and litigation communications. In this high-stakes environment, she provided strategic counsel to Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations, and public figures, guiding them through reputational challenges, regulatory scrutiny, and complex legal disputes. Her work involved navigating investigations, high-profile lawsuits, and corporate crises, equipping organizations with proactive strategies to maintain public trust and credibility.
Through these experiences, Midy developed a unique ability to blend public interest communications with private sector strategy, ensuring that organizations could anticipate risks, shape narratives, and drive meaningful change—whether in public health, corporate reputation management, or advocacy-driven initiatives.
Professional Highlight: Preserving Latino History & Heritage
As the founding executive director of the American Latino Heritage Fund (ALHF) at the National Park Foundation, Midy was at the forefront of a groundbreaking initiative to elevate Latino contributions to U.S. history within the national park system. In this quasi-governmental role, she worked in close partnership with the Obama Administration, the Department of the Interior, and the National Park Service, shaping efforts to recognize and preserve culturally significant sites that reflect the diverse narratives of American history.
Under her leadership, ALHF played a pivotal role in securing National Historic Landmark designations, ensuring that critical pieces of Latino history were recognized, protected, and integrated into the national consciousness. These designations included the César E. Chávez National Monument in California, honoring the legacy of the civil rights leader and labor activist; Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals in Michigan, a testament to Mexican artistic contributions to American industrial history; and the home of Puerto Rican poet and scholar Concha Meléndez, reinforcing the importance of Afro-Caribbean and Latin American literary traditions.
Beyond landmark designations, Midy led national engagement initiatives aimed at fostering a deeper connection between Latino communities and the national park system, through the American Latino Expedition. She championed storytelling and advocacy campaigns, bringing to light the untold histories of Latino leaders, activists, and cultural icons whose contributions had been historically overlooked. Through these efforts, she mobilized philanthropic investments, cultivated corporate partnerships, and worked with grassroots organizations to ensure that public lands and cultural heritage sites became more inclusive and representative of the nation’s diverse history.
Her work at ALHF extended into youth engagement and educational programming, helping to create pathways for Latino students and young professionals to explore careers in conservation, historic preservation and public service. Through targeted outreach and collaborative initiatives with park rangers, educators, and local organizations, she helped inspire the next generation of environmental and cultural stewards.
Midy’s tenure at ALHF exemplifies her ability to blend policy advocacy, public-private partnerships, and strategic philanthropy to drive systemic change. Her leadership not only resulted in tangible preservation efforts but also helped reshape how Latino history is recognized and valued within America’s most treasured landscapes.
Expanding Horizons: Leadership in Strategy & Global Impact
At Spitfire Strategies, where she joined in 2014 and became Chief Experience Officer in 2018, Midy played a key role in the firm’s growth, operational strategy, and global expansion. She led the development of integrated operational systems, bringing together financial modeling, resource management, and strategic growth frameworks to enhance Spitfire’s long-term sustainability.
Building on this foundation, Midy established Spitfire’s Denver office, anchoring the firm’s presence in the InterMountain West and expanding its communications and coalition-building clientele. In this role, she partnered with organizations addressing public health initiatives, climate adaptation and carbon sequestration, and transnational migration and refugee support, helping them to strategically navigate complex challenges and strengthen stakeholder engagement.
Midy also help grow Spitfire’s international portfolio, developing high-impact coalitions focused on digital rights, data protection, and civil society engagement. She worked with groups across Mexico, Latin America, Europe, Africa and China guiding organizations through policy frameworks, global advocacy efforts, and complex digital and human rights challenges.
Midy’s tenure at Spitfire exemplifies her ability to blend operational expertise with strategic vision, ensuring that organizations are well-structured internally while positioned for meaningful, sustained impact—locally, nationally, and globally.
Founding Civil: A New Ethos for Consultancies
In 2023, Midy founded Civil Strategies to bridge critical gaps in philanthropy, nonprofit consulting, and strategic advising. Recognizing the disconnect between visionary planning and practical execution, she built Civil as a firm that integrates strategy with implementation, ensuring that foundations and organizations achieve measurable, sustainable outcomes.
Under Midy’s leadership, Civil has become a trusted partner for foundations and mission-driven enterprises, providing tailored solutions that optimize operations, strengthen financial resilience, and enhance organizational effectiveness. Her expertise in multi-entity structures, strategic planning, and operational efficiency positions the firm as a leader in helping organizations navigate growth and long-term sustainability.
Beyond Civil, Midy serves on the board of Hispanics in Philanthropy, contributing to efforts that strengthen organizational capacity, expand funding strategies, and drive sustainable impact. She previously served on the boards of the Alaska Wilderness League and the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, supporting initiatives focused on organizational growth, strategic development, and environmental advocacy.
Personal Life and Education: Championing Community & Diversity
A graduate of Florida International University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Midy’s professional journey is deeply rooted in her upbringing. Born in New York City to Cuban immigrants and raised in Miami, her career reflects a steadfast commitment to cultural preservation, operational excellence, and equipping organizations to drive meaningful change.
An accomplished writer and speaker, Midy has authored several published pieces and is sought after for her insights on philanthropy, equity, and organizational strategy. Her work amplifies the voices of communities while offering actionable pathways for creating sustainable impact.