Art Medina – Top Latinos
Northglenn, CO /LWW/ Mr. Art Medina, Author, Founder of Ayudando La Gente/Helping the People, Community Developer, Pastor, Coach, Philanthropist and Agent with Medina Insurance Agencies, has been recognized by the Top Latinos in the 2026 edition.
Some lives resist easy summary, and Art Medina’s is one of them. For more than 54 years, since May of 1972, he has led a life of contributing to the growth and security of the residents in Colorado, building an insurance practice grounded in protection, planning, and genuine care for the people who walk through his door. Yet insurance is only the starting point of his story. Behind the policies and the professional titles lives a man who decided long ago that success meant lifting others, and he has spent every decade since proving that a single person can change the direction of an entire community.
The scope of his work is difficult to overstate. Alongside his insurance agencies, Art founded Ayudando La Gente, known in English as Helping the People, along with International Kids Outreach. Through these organizations he has served as founder, CEO, president, director, grant writer, and outreach coordinator, wearing whatever hat the moment required. He has poured himself into community development, youth programs, drug and alcohol prevention and intervention, counseling, and philanthropy, showing schools, businesses, and churches how to find and share resources. His guiding aim has always been simple and steady, to help create a more caring and understanding world.
What makes Art’s leadership so credible is that his expertise is real and hard-earned. He pursued an MBA from Alemeda University, a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and business management from Regis University, and additional study across Metropolitan State College of Denver, Arapahoe Community College, Adams State College, and Oklahoma State University, adding coursework in law, accounting, marketing, and counseling. That foundation allowed him to serve as a senior accountant, a supervisor, a financial planner, and a benefits specialist, while still finding the time to run his own programs and, at one point, contract with 15 agencies at once, all of them focused on the same mission of helping people.
The recognition followed naturally. Art has received the Governor’s Citation for Developing Communities, multiple Colorado State Human Service awards for youth, family, school, and business development, and he was named Hispanic Volunteer of the Year in 1996. He earned two You Make a Difference awards, the SLV Hispanic League Volunteer Award, and appreciation honors for his work across 16 school districts and countless schools, all reflecting the same pattern of showing up where he was needed most. He has served on more than 40 boards, commissions, and councils, including a founding role with the Boys and Girls Club in Alamosa and leadership within the SLV Youth Coalition.
Perhaps no part of his work reveals his heart more clearly than his approach to young people at risk. Art founded boxing programs in Monte Vista and Antonito, trained amateur and professional fighters, and used the discipline of the ring to help gang members turn their lives around. His gangs to church program, his mentoring and counseling work, and his prevention and intervention efforts gave structure and hope to young people who had been written off by others. He earned several awards for that transformation work, and he even collaborated with Archbishop Desmond Tutu coordinating World Peace Jams, carrying his local mission onto an international stage. Local government also honored him for helping to revitalize the community and serving the lives of its children.
Through all of it, Art has remained a devoted family man. As a father of five, grandfather of 28, and great grandfather of 6, now in his 40th year of a second marriage with Ursula Medina, he has lived the values he teaches. His faith as a pastor, his patience as a coach, and his discipline as a lifelong athlete and Tae Kwon Do black belt all point back to a single conviction that defines him. In his own words, “You exist to help others and make sure that they succeed in life.” That philosophy has guided more than half a century of service, and it stands as an invitation to anyone who believes their own life can be measured by the good they leave behind.
Top Latinos is a prestigious New York publication dedicated to honoring the achievements of the Latino community. They meticulously identify and honor outstanding Latino professionals nationwide who have reached impressive levels of success in their respective fields. By showcasing their accomplishments, they aim to foster growth and appreciation of the Latino industry and culture. Since their establishment in 2010, Top Latinos has been wholeheartedly committed to fulfilling their mission of bringing awareness to the exceptional contributions made by the Latino professional and executive community.