Armed with his faith in God and dream for a better world, Salvador Torres Dávalos has made it his life mission to relieve suffering. In recognition of his contributions to that cause and for his many years in management in the public sector, Dávalos was awarded the 2025 MPA Administrator of the Year Award by the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at the BYU Marriott School of Business.
At the award ceremony, Dávalos acknowledged the trials that have made him who he is today. When Dávalos was 9 years old, his father abandoned his family, and they experienced poverty. “I knew what it meant to suffer,” says Dávalos, who grew up in Mexico. Inspired to improve his family’s situation, Dávalos set a goal to attend college, but as he got older, he felt called by God in another direction and spent 11 years serving missions for the Catholic church across the United States, Mexico, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
“When I was in the Philippines, I was part of the majority in a Christian country,” he describes. “But when I went to Indonesia, belonging to the minority religious group made me believe building bridges is not enough.” Dávalos realized he didn’t want to simply contribute to a community and then leave, but rather he wanted to act as the bridge between communities himself by becoming a good listener. “By listening, you acknowledge the other person, and they become a part of you,” Dávalos says.
Outside of his missions, Dávalos earned bachelor’s degrees in international relations and philosophy from ITESO Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara and an MPA as well as a master’s degree in public policy from Tecnológico de Monterrey. Since graduating, Dávalos has worked in public administration and has been with the International City/County Management Association for Mexico and Latin America since 2019. He is currently serving as the executive director.
As he shared his story, Dávalos also highlighted four aspects of good leaders: self-awareness, creativity, love, and heroism. “Love and compassion will always be ingredients for good leadership,” Dávalos says, adding that he makes an effort to gauge his leadership and service by reflecting on the impact he has had on people’s lives.
“Service to me is going out of yourself to make someone else a priority, but not just somebody else—the poorest of the poor,” he shares. He recognizes that sometimes service is motivated by a hope to get something in return, but he finds personal fulfillment by working to enhance the lives of others. “When you serve someone who happens to be in need, that’s what I call real service.”