Former Newman board of trustees member Tony Madrigal was honored with the Wichita Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Business Award on Sept 21.
Madrigal is the CEO of Madrigal & Associates, an insurance agency in Wichita. Madrigal helped found the agency in 1978 and has seen it grow to the successful business it is today.
Madrigal was awarded at the Wichita Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (WHCC) annual dinner for his life accomplishments.
Madrigal finds comfort in helping people and he does it through serving on boards — he is involved in multiple organizations across Wichita. “Wichita has been very good to me and that’s why I started going on boards. I could help a lot of people by being on these boards.”
Madrigal began his relationship with Newman when he was invited to help support the building of Dugan Library. He then served on the Newman University board of trustees from 2009-2015.
He played a part in the creation of WHCC 15 years ago and served on the board for many years. He served six years as a board member for Catholic Charities, was president of the Senior Community Center board for 10 years in addition to his six years on the Newman University board.
He has worked passionately to improve the lives of Hispanic children in Wichita. He helps fund college scholarships and also mentioned his visits to North High School where he “was involved with talking to the hispanics about going to college at Wichita State University and Newman University.”
Madrigal founded the Children’s Breakfast Program in Wichita as well. He realized many students were not getting fed the most important meal of the day so from 1989-1999 he stepped in to help. The program provides breakfast to 40-50 kindergarten through sixth-grade students each morning before school. Madrigal also purchased a bus to transport the students from the breakfast to their school.
Madrigal was thankful for the award and said, “The Wichita Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has been good for Wichita and Wichita has been good for it. The combination has been good for the community.”
Madrigal continues to keep a high level of involvement in Wichita and strives to make a difference in the lives of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic community members.
