MANA, A National Latina Organization

Latinas were honored for achieving “firsts” in their careers or fields this year at MANA, A National Latina Organization’s 16th Las Primeras Awards Gala on Oct. 13, held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. This year’s awardees included Evangeline Elizondo, the first elected president of MANA, for Community Service; New Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, the first Latina to serve as president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, for Leadership; Kansas Congresswoman Delia Garcia, the first Latina to be elected to the Kansas State Legislature, for Public Service; and Capt. Kathlene Contres of the U.S. Navy, the first Latina to serve as commandant of the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, for Military Service. The event also honored Congresswomen Grace Napolitano and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen with HerMANA Awards, Ford’s Raquel “Rocky” Egusguiza and Wal-Mart’s Jose “Pepe” Estrada with the Madrina and Padrino Awards, and NBC Universal/Telemundo as Corporation of the Year. MANA’s first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to State Farm Insurance Companies.

Rebecca Vigil-Giron, Kathlene Contres, Delia Garcia, Evangeline Elizondo, and MANA President Alma Morales Riojas

Latin Business Assocation

The Latin Business Assocation (LBA) held its 10th Annual National Latino Business Expo Oct. 14–15 in Los Angeles. The event brought together Latino entrepreneurs, procurement officers, and members of corporate America for the largest national Hispanic business-to-business event. This year’s Expo, which kicked off the celebration of LBA’s 30th anniversary, was themed “A Decade of Excellence in Latino Showcasing” and featured a keynote addresses by U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Rita Cruz-Gallegos, Martha Lugo-Aguayo, Rose Ramirez Girard, Veronica Corona, and Cynthia Amador

National Hispana Leadership Institute

On Nov. 4, the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI) hosted its 13th Annual Leadership Training & Mujer Awards Conference at San Diego’s Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines. The event was a meeting place for Latina leaders and entrepreneurs, artists and authors, and corporate professionals, and featured a keynote address by Maria Marin and presentations by Lynn McCann of the Center for Creative Leadership, Wells Fargo Bank’s Enrique Balderas, and Continental Airlines’ Gladys Bayo-Rivara, to name a few. This year’s Mujer Awardees were Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch, author and retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army who became the highest-ranking Latina in the Combat Support Field; and Eva Pagan Hill, a mental-health and human-services specialist and a Latino advocate from Orlando.

Sandra Madrid, Eva Pagan-Hill, Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch, and Marisa Rivera-Albert

National Society of Hispanic MBAs

Latino professionals gathered in Southern California this year for the National Society of Hispanic MBAs’ (NSHMBA) 16th Annual Conference and Career Expo, held in Anaheim Sept. 29–Oct. 1. The event was host to over 6,700 attendees, with over 320 companies represented, and offered an array of networking opportunities, speakers and panels, and a Professional Development Day that featured a variety of training options in finance, marketing, management, leadership, professional competencies and career development.

NSHMBA Brillante Award recipients

Hispanic College Fund

On Oct. 26, the Hispanic College Fund (HCF) held its 12th Annual Scholarship Awards Gala at the JW Mariott in Washington, D.C. The event brought together government and community leaders and event sponsors to recognize the 2005 HCF Scholarship recipients, many of which were present at the gala.The event also honored Ford Motor Company as HCF’s Corporation of the Year. Since 1993, HCF has awarded more than $6 million in the form of over 2,800 merit- and need-based scholarships to Latino undergraduates; this year’s 530 scholarships totaled $1.4 million.

Scholarship recipients with HCF President Fernando Barrueta