Carmen Santiago
Cuidado Casero Home Health
Services, Inc.
Arlington, TX

Carmen Santiago, Dr. P.H. is the president and founder of Medica Health Management, Inc. and Cuidado Casero Home Health Services, Inc. She founded Cuidado Casero in 1995 with two employees after she witnessed the need for bilingual health care services for home bound patients, and has ever since taken the company to a multi-million dollar contender in the health care field. “The Latino community is the basis on which Cuidado Casero Home Health and Hospice was founded,” she says. “We have the opportunity to contribute daily by participating in the daily home health care of Latinos in their homes.” With more than 30 years of experience as a registered nurse, Santiago is a nationally recognized lecturer on wound care and wound treatment.. She is involved in community service and several organizations sharing her expertise in wound care, urinary incontinence, enterestomal therapy techniques and skin disorders. She also provides pro bono services to needy families, donates to women’s shelters and adopts needy children and their families for the Christmas holidays. Today, Santiago is a proud wife, mother of four and has 11 grandchildren. Santiago believes Latinas will continue to excel in many areas, cross boundaries, set standards and tap into areas where they had not been seen before.

“I see women of excellence, education and family values,” she says. “Continue your education and always follow your heart, armored with these you will succeed and empower those you come into contact with.” As a winner, she felt ecstatic to have been chosen for the award. “There are many innovative Latina women out there striving to make it to the top in their fields,” she says. “I am very happy that all this hard work is recognized on a national level with awards like the Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund.”

Eileen Torres
Eileen Torres Productions
Washington D.C.

“I feel honored, grateful and blessed,” she says. “This is a very prestigious award and I am proud to be a 2007 Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund recipient.” A strong Latina, Eileen Torres is the president of Eileen Torres Production, a salsa and dance entertainment company. Her passion for music, especially dancing has led her to build a career within the salsa dancing industry. Her work includes producing dance shows, recognition ceremonies and fulfilling speaking engagements as a salsa historian. Torres has received the Andy Award for her work as a salsa historian and producer of salsa events during the 2002 World Salsa Congress in Puerto Rico and has been voted as Salsa Metro’s Promoter of the Year three times. Among her past clients are the Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Society, the Pentagon, Hechts, and Salsa Conferences from across the world. She has work with Hispanic organizations such as the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) to name a few. Torres is an alumnus of National Hispana Leadership Institute and has served as a consultant to the National Hispanic Corporate Council. Today, she is currently working to launch the internet portal, Mundo Latino364, and producing the upcoming feature length salsa film titled MANO.

In 2008, Torres, plans to produce a stage presentation of the history of Salsa music from its roots in Africa through Cuba and New York. Torres’ advice to Latinas—“Dress as if you were an executive,” she says. “It gets you noticed and relays the underlying message that you are serious and prepared to move forward. Don’t succumb to the current culture of the relaxed and comfortable dressing.”

Bernadette Trujillo-Vadurro
Speakers Live Inc.
Santa Fe, NM

A professional speaker and author, Bernadette Trujillo-Vadurro is president of Speakers Live, Inc. She has served as president of Speakers Live since 2003 and of Leading Edge Training Technologies since 1996. Speakers Live provides clients with professional speakers and publications for conferences, meetings and conventions. She has also developed and delivered motivational business seminars and workshops geared towards enhancing personal and professional performance. Among her many achievements throughout her career include being honored as the Business Supplier of the Year Award in 1998 by the Rio Grande Minority Purchasing Council after being nominated by the Los Alamos National Laboratory. She was also elected chairman of the Board of Directors for the Santa Fe Recovery Center in 2005. In addition to running Speakers Live, Inc, she is currently working to promote her new book, America’s Conscience: Facing Threats to Democracy, the Middle Class and Our World. Her future projects include becoming a politically active voice as well as working to increase the awareness of the importance of the Latino vote in public policy and decision making. She believes that Latinas will have opportunities that will lead to influence how education, health care, media and political processes are handle. “Latinas offer a more comprehensive, inclusive, and transparent way of dealing with complex issues that will ultimately benefit everyone,” she says.

Monica Vaca
The Houston Real Estate Group
Houston, TX

A first generation American born to Ecuadorian immigrants, Monica Vaca decided to open her own real estate agency in 2004. Starting with nothing more than a small office, a desk and a computer in Houston, she decided to start her own firm. Today, she has moved into a 4,000 square foot facility with 10 agents and four other employees, with the goal of having 20 agents by the end of 2007 and 40 by the end of 2008. “I’m currently working on growing my firm organically by adding more agents for productivity and process and procedures for scalability,” she says. “When afforded the opportunity I want to be prepared to take my business to the next level.” For future projects, she will add a mortgage component to her business, and would like to expand to serving foreign markets. Because she feels that the Hispanic community has been underserved within the real estate industry, she decided to educate and inform clients of their various options and rights as home buyer through free Spanish-language home-buying seminars. “I believe that educating the consumer is essential,” she says.

“In addition, I volunteer with Latino youth groups to enforce education and hence achieve a better quality of life.” Vaca has served on the board of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals and have utilized both television and radio outlets to further assist in educating Hispanic consumers. As an award recipient, she has been motivated to grow as a Latina entrepreneur. “The fact that I was selected solidifies that in some small way I am doing my part to contribute to the ever growing of Latinas in this country.”

The gala could not have ended any other way. There was excitement, tears, laughter and joy in many across the room. “Thank you to the gala sponsors and to LATINA Style” says Trujillo-Vadurro. “This event gave an in-depth look at the legacy of Anna Maria Arias. As a recipient I believe we have a responsibility to carry the Anna Maria Arias message in a matter that reflects her values and priorities in our businesses and in how we impact public life.”