Daniel Benefiel

Daniel Benefiel knows the power of networking. He came to staffing while he was waiting tables just after finishing his degree in business administration and management at Indiana University. “A buddy of mine I’d worked with in the restaurant industry had landed himself [in staffing. He] called and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a position for a recruiter who speaks Spanish.’ I spoke it really well at the time,” Benefiel says. “And the rest is history.”

In a similar vein, former colleagues and a former supervisor eventually enticed him to the Morales Group, where he has been for nearly 10 years and currently serves as VP of staffing operations.

The Morales Group is an Indianapolis-based firm that focuses on serving underserved communities such as refugees and immigrants by connecting them to upwardly mobile careers as well as to resources like English classes, continuing education and basic needs support. In 2020 and 2021, Benefiel led the company’s efforts to flip its recruitment process to be accessible 100% online. This not only helped the company weather the effects of the pandemic, but it also created transportation equity for candidates who no longer needed to transport themselves in person to apply for job openings.

Benefiel says that of all his recent accomplishments, he’s most proud of guiding four Hispanic colleagues — three of whom are women — into leadership positions.