Past Mujer Award Recipients

2006 CHAIR'S AWARD

The youngest of four sisters who grew up on a ranch in Corpus Christi, Texas, Eva Longoria attended Texas A&M-Kingsville, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology. After graduating from college, she entered a talent contest that brought her to Los Angeles, where she was spotted and subsequently signed by a theatrical agent. After landing roles on The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital and co-starring on Beverly Hills, 90210, she auditioned and won the role of “Isabella” on the popular series The Young and the Restless. Eva’s career was successfully launched. She considers herself blessed to have had the opportunity to work on the #1 daytime drama, which was followed by a role as “Detective Gloria Duran” on Dick Wolf’s LA Dragnet.

One of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors, Eva recently starred in The Sentinel, opposite Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland and Kim Basinger. Eva’s incredible talent and creativity is reflected within an impressive list of projects which include major motion pictures, indie films, movies-of-the week, and sketch comedy. Eva currently stars as Latina sexpot “Gabrielle Solis” on the ABC mega-hit Desperate Housewives, the two-time Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild winning show with over 30 million viewers in the U.S., and seen in 208 countries around the world. She starred alongside Christian Bale and Freddie Rodriquez in the indie film, Harsh Times, written and directed by David Ayer, that received rave reviews at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. She is lending her voice to the upcoming Lions Gate animated film, Foodfight. Eva also flexes her comedic muscles in Hot Tamales Live, a critically acclaimed comedy/variety show, in which she both stars and produces.

Eva continues to pursue her dreams and remains committed to serving the Latino community. She volunteered during the last presidential campaign, engaging Latino voters and participated in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Eva recently hosted and served as a producer for the 2006 National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Alma Awards. She has volunteered her time to the Special Olympics, the United Farm Workers, the Mexican American Legal Defense Eductional Fund, and the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Eva was recently honored with the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts’ Horizon award.

The Golden Globe nominee is the national spokesperson for Padres Contra El Cancer, a non-profit organization committed to improving the quality of life for Latino children with cancer and their families. Eva’s strong will and determination continue to shape a brighter future for these children and our community.

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NATIONAL MUJER AWARD

A former school teacher, Dr. Gloria G. Rodriguez founded AVANCE, a nonprofit organization to help low-income parents get their children, birth to three years of age, ready for school as a means of reducing the high dropout rate among Latinos. Serving 7,000 parents and children each year, AVANCE is a nationally recognized model and pioneer of parent education, family support and fatherhood education programs. AVANCE has been featured in the New York Times, ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, McNeil Lehrer News Hour, and has been included in three books by former First Ladies (Barbara Bush, First Teachers; Hillary Clinton, It Takes a Village, and Rosalyn Carter, Helping Someone with Mental Illness).

Dr. Rodriguez was a delegate to the White House Conference on Families, and, by presidential appointment, served as part of the United States Delegation to the United Nations International Commission on the Status of Women, and currently is a member of the Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Dr. Rodriguez has served as a consultant for the federal government, Parent’s Magazine, Whittle Communication’s La Familia De Hoy Magazine, Mr. Rogers Corporation, the Work Family Institute, the Harvard Family Research Project, Georgetown University and the Yale Bush Center. She served as an Advisory Member to the GEMS Television Board and co-chaired the San Antonio 2000 Ready to Learn Task Force.

Dr. Rodriguez was featured in Parade Magazine and received the Parent Action Award from Parent’s Magazine. She was named in Working Mother’s Magazine as one of 25 influential working mothers; was included several times as one of 100 leading Hispanics in Hispanic Business Magazine, and was inducted in the Texas Hall of Fame. Her many awards include: the MALDEF Award, the Sr. Benetia Award and Avenida Guadalupe Award, the Attitude Award by Lifetime Television, the Distinguished Service to Education Award from the National Association of School Principals, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Education at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Woman of the Year for the San Antonio Light. She was inducted into the San Antonio Edgewood Hall of Fame and Leadership San Antonio Hall of Fame.

Dr. Rodriguez is the author of Raising Nuestros Niños: Bringing Up Latino Children in a Bicultural World. Her works are included at the Eugene Barker Center on Texas History at University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Rodriguez has her Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Texas of Austin, married to Salvador C. Rodriguez and is the mother of three children.

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REGIONAL MUJER AWARD

Born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, Moraima Oyola has always identified with people in need.  Her motivation to study psychology and theology was fueled by this. From an early age, Ms. Oyola was subjected to her father’s physical and emotional abuse—surviving, even, an attempt to be burned alive.  Her experiences as a survivor guided Ms. Oyola in her work with youth and families in their struggle to survive and rise above the circumstances of their own personal and social challenges.

Ms. Oyola is currently the president of Forjando un Nuevo Comienzo (Forging a New Beginning), an organization dedicated to employing school drop-outs and ex-offenders in the cities of Guaynabo, Bayamón, Carolina, San Juan, and Cataño.  She is also the president of the Coalición de Apoyo Continuo (Coalition of Ongoing Support).  The Coalition serves the residents of the municipality of Guaynabo—which extends through the towns of Guaynabo, Bayamón, Cataño, Toa Baja, Toa Alta, and Cidra—and functions as an umbrella organization for a variety of support agencies. Ms. Oyola is also treasurer of the Agencias Comunales de Puerto Rico (Community Agencies of Puerto Rico).

Ms. Oyola’s life has always been committed to working with those who are marginalized from society.  In this work, she is guided by a strong, yet deceivingly simple mission: “We should never take away anyone’s hope—it might be the only thing a person has left.”

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NATIONAL MUJER AWARD

Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch from Laredo, Texas is this year’s recipient of the National Mujer Award. She overcame challenges of poverty, discrimination and illiteracy and is now a successful leader and role model for her community. Consuelo is known as a charismatic, passionate and influential speaker and she carries her powerful mission to prepare tomorrow’s leaders today. Consuelo has dedicated her life to empowering a new generation of Hispanic leaders and has worked with over one million children and their parents in the roughest neighborhoods in America. EAS is not her first success. She is also a retired Lieutenant Colonel that broke barriers and set records in the military when she became the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Combat Support Field of the United States Army. With her dedication to Latino youth and her distinguished military career she represents the NHLI’s ideal recipient of the 2005 National Mujer Award.

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REGIONAL MUJER AWARD

Eva Pagán Hill is this year’s recipient of the Regional Mujer Award. Eva’s dedication, selflessness, and inexhaustible service to the Hispanic community of Central Florida is visible in every sector of her community. She is a mental health and human services specialist with over fifteen years of progressive accomplishments, and a Latino advocate from Orlando, Florida. She also writes a bi-weekly newspaper column on family strengthening for La Prensa. She is fully committed to helping the Latino community and exercises her skills and mentorship qualities as a specialist on behalf of the community. She is a gifted speaker and writer who maximizes opportunities to carry her community’s message to everyone with whom she interacts. She is a trusted source of information and an inspiration to many Latinas and is most deserving of the 2005 Regional Mujer Award.

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NATIONAL MUJER AWARD

Marjorie Agosin is one of the most important, original, eloquent, and productive Latin American woman writers in the United States. She is a poet, writer, editor, scholar, teacher, creative thinker, and activist in the field of human rights and women’s rights. She is a woman of integrity, passion and intellectual brilliance.

Marjorie has been an essential voice in the effort to redefine Latina/Latina-Americana identity in ways that challenge stereotypes and simplistic constructions of our history. Thanks to Marjorie’s presence and the generosity of her work, she has created a space for Latin American Jewish and Latina Jewish writers in the United States. Just in the last few years, she has brought out an impressive number of anthologies of Latin American Jewish women poets and writers, in English, Spanish, and in bilingual editions. Her commitment to building a community of Latin American Jewish writing is one of the many ways in which she has shown that writing can be a form of activism.

Her work in human rights was recently recognized in a rare and prestigious award from the United Nations, which gave her a Leadership Award in Human Rights.

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REGIONAL MUJER AWARD

Born in 1923 in the rural town of Millet, Texas, Adelfa Botello Callejo has participated in the struggles of Mexican-Americans every day of her life. In Millet, Mexican parents were required to send their children to segregated schools, which they usually attended only through the primary grades, and later, buried their dead in the segregated cemetery. Today Ms. Callejo is one of Texas’s most eminent lawyers, and her efforts have helped people of Hispanic heritage to advance as well.

She remains fully committed to her belief that advocacy is the most important aspect of lawyers’ work. Her practice now involves mostly catastrophic injury, family law, workmen’s compensation and immigration cases. She holds workshops in the community to help new residents learn U.S. laws and understand their rights. She also works to educate the non-Hispanic community about the plight of immigrants and the need to change attitudes toward immigration.

Reflecting on her early poverty and the lack of role models in her early years as an aspiring attorney, Ms. Callejo urges young people not to dwell on the obstacles they face but rather to focus on their objectives and goals and find a way to achieve them. She advises them not to be afraid of power, and to work hard, as she did, “to gain the arsenal of weapons necessary to make a difference-legal training, grass roots involvement, money and courage!”

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NATIONAL MUJER AWARD

Since taking the helm of the organization in 1997, Sara Martinez Tucker, President and CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, has helped the HSF to grow quickly, from awarding $3.5 million in scholarships in 1998 to more than $26 million per year, awarding a total of 61,000 scholarships. Ms. Martinez Tucker has a goal for the organization, to double the rate of Hispanics earning college degrees to 18% by 2010. During her tenure at HSF, she has expanded its focus beyond college retention by adding community college transfer, graduating high school senior, and community outreach programs. Prior to joining HSF, she worked for AT&T for 16 years.

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REGIONAL MUJER AWARD

Dr. Juliet Villarreal Garcia became President of the University of Texas at Brownsville. President in 1992 after serving 6 years as President of Texas Southmost College, where she was recognized as the first Mexican-American woman to become President of a university. During her tenure as President, Dr. Garcia has increased student enrollment to more than 10,000 students in the university and 5,000 in the workforce training and continuing education programs. The campus has grown from 49 acres to 382 acres. She also led the development of the unique partnership between the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, designed to increase efficiency and eliminate transfer barriers for students.

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NATIONAL MUJER AWARD

Cristina Saralegui, a 30 year veteran journalist of Spanish language media was born in Cuba and she became an integral part of the Cuban exile community in Miami. While attending University of Miami where she majored in mass communication and creative writing, she worked with Vanidades, the #1 woman's magazine in Latin America. In 1979, the Heart's Spanish language version of Cosmopolitan magazine, Cosmopolitan en Español, named her the editor-in chief

In 1989, she ventured into the world of talk show television with the premier of The Cristina Show. It is currently the #1 talkshow on Spanish-language television with an estimated audience of 100 million viewers worldwide. "My TV program deals primarily with family issues, essentially holding a mirror p to the Hispanic community. Since the beginning we have dealt with every subject that impacts the Hispanic family including AIDS awareness, education, domestic violence, interpersonal relations, teen pregnancy, to name a few."

She has expanded upon the success of The Cristina Show in a variety of ways. She co-publishes a monthly magazine, Cristina La Revista that features well known and respected Latinos who, by revealing their formula for success, hope to inspire others to be come successful. She hosts a daily radio program entitled Cristina Opina airing on Radio Unica, the only national 24-hour Spanish-language talk radio network. It also airs throughout Latin America. In October, 1998 she launched www.cristinaonline.com, a bilingual website that provides access to all of the subsidiaries under the Cristina Saralegui Enterprises.Inc. umbrella.

Concerned with the impact of AIDS ON the Hispanic community, in 1996 Cristina and her husband, Marcos Davila established the Arriba la Vida/Up with Life Foundation that provides AIDS awarness and education among Hispanics. Cristina was been honored by AmFar for her commitment as an AIDS activist in 1997 with a Gala that raised over half a million dollars for AIDS research.

She is also involved with the Civitas Foundation a non-profit communications organization that creates tools that help educate and support the community of adults who take care of young children. On May 1, 2000, Civitas Initiative released a special video for parents of virtually every new baby born in the U.S. "Begin with Love/Empieza con Amor. More than 3.6 million videotapes will be distributed free over the next year through The Parenting Group’s First Moments, Inc. new parents kit, an in-hospital distribution system.

Cristina is also listed in numerous biographical references including "Who's Who in Professional and Executive Women" and 'The Top 100 Hispanic Influential People in the U.S." The National Council of La Raza/Kraft Foods ALMA (American Latino Media Arts) Community Service Award for 2000 was presented to Cristina for her exceptional work in heightening the awareness of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community. The Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) presented Cristina with the 2001 Gracie Allen Tribute Award in New York City. This prestigious award is bestowed on an individual with proven commitment to the advancement of women in electronic media.

The Museum of Television and Radio recognized "The Cristina Show", during their 19th Annual William S. Paley Television Festival. This event marks the first time a Spanish-language program was included in the Festival.

In 2002, the Imagen Foundation, a non-profit organization whose dedication is to increase Latino representation in the entertainment industry presented Cristina with the "Life Time Achievement Award". The Imagen Awards’ recognizes and encourages the television, film and advertising industries to portray Latino actors and production storylines in a positive and accurate manner.

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REGIONAL MUJER AWARD

Sonia Gutierrez, Executive Director of the Carlos Rosario International Career Center and Public Charter School in Washington, DC is NHLI's 2002 Regional Mujer Awardee. For the past 30 years, Ms. Gutierrez has proved her indispensable committment to the growth and development of a program dedicated to the English language needs of the Hispanic community of Washington, DC. Under her administration, a small underfunded English as a Second Language program began with 100 students had grown into the Carlos Rosario Adult Education Center, a facility that housed over 2,400 students with a waiting list of over 2,000 and had a faculty and staff of over 100.

In 1996, the District of Columbia closed the Center and Mrs. Gutierrez retired from the DC Public School System with a vow to rebuild the Center. She established the Carlos Rosario International Career Center as a nonprofit organization. Working out of the basement of her home, she raised $100,000 from foundations to reopen the school. The new Carlos Rosario International Career Center openened its doors in April, 1997. Mrs. Gutierrez raised over 1/2 million dollars and served over 600 students. In 1998, the Center became the first adult education charter school in the nation with an initial enrollment of 1,300 studenta and a waiting list of over 500. With a budget of over $2 million, the Center has a partnership with the National Council of La Raza and Ayuda to purchase a new building for the school.

Ms. Gutierrez has played a pre-eminent role in the social, poitical and economic development of the Hispanic community in the District. She was the founding president of the Council of Latino Agencies; President of the Latino Festival (1975); Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Latino Festival (1993); one of the founders of the Mayor's Office on Latino Affairs; President of the Metropolitan DC Association of Adult and Continuing Education; and a Commissioner on the DC Commission for Women and the Latino Community Development Commission.

Her efforts were recognized not only by the immigrant community that she has served, but also by all the citizens of the District of Columbia when she was named Washingtonian of the Year in 1987. She has been inducted into the Washington Women's Hall of Fame. In 1997 Ms. Gutierrez received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Greater Ibero-American Chamber of Commerce and in 1998 the "The Latino Hero of the Year: from Nuestra Gente: U.S. Latinos organization.

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National Mujer Award Recipient

Linda Chavez-Thompson is the first person to hold the post of AFL-CIO executive vice president, and she is the first person of color to be elected to one of the federation’s three highest offices. A native of Lubbock, Texas, Chavez-Thompson is a second-generation American of Mexican descent. She brings to her work 34 years of experience in the labor movement, beginning in 1967 with her first work for the Laborers’ local union in Lubbock. Chavez-Thompson represents the labor movement in a wide variety of national organizations, including her service as the chair of the National Committee on Pay Equity, as a member of the executive committee of the United Way of America, as a vice chair of the President’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities, as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, and as a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

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Regional Mujer Award Recipient

Lena Archuleta, lifetime educator and civil rights activist from Denver, CO has worked tirelessly for over fifty years on behalf of the Latino community. Ms. Archuleta was born in New Mexico and began her long career in education in her native state and was a committed advocate for children of all races and specifically fought for the rights of Latinos. "Education is the only way that people can rise to their full potential. Working with young people is the most satisfying work you can do," Lena Archuleta said about her long tenure in the Denver Public School system. Currently, Lena is involved with The Denver Foundation, the Public Council on Drinking Water Research, and Adelante Mujer Focus Group, which assists with strategic planning on behalf of Latinas. She also continues to volunteer her time with the AARP at the state level. Lena Archuleta has been an exemplary role model for Latinas who have learned from her during her tenure as an educator, administrator, and principal in the Denver Public Schools System.

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National Mujer Award Recipient

Antonia Hernandez, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Antonia Hernandez has dedicated her life and career to the protection and promotion of civil rights of Latinos throughout the country. Through her leadership, MALDEF has scored impressive victories in the areas of education, political access, employment, immigration and voting rights.

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First Regional Mujer Award Recipient

Marylou Olivares Mazon, Director of the Commission of Spanish Speaking Affairs of the State of Michigan, works to implement the Commission’s mission to develop a unified policy and plan of action to serve the needs of Michigan’s Hispanic people. The Office on Spanish Speaking Affairs was established to provide the Commission with information concerning the problems of Hispanic people, and to implement Commission policy. Throughout her long career, Ms. Olivarez-Mason has had an unrelenting commitment to justice and civil rights. She works tirelessly to bridge the gap between government and the people it was established to serve.

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Mary Lou Tullos Garcia, is a Hispanic educator who has dedicated her life to the improvement of schools and schooling for the severely and profoundly disabled Hispanic students.Born and raised in Harlingen, Texas, she graduated from the University of Texas with a B.S. degree in elementary education and MasterÕs degree in Education. She has special certification in Learning Disabilities, Mental retardation and Kinesiology also from the University of Texas at Southmost. Currently, Ms. Tullos Garcia is the Department Head, Special Education Program and teacher at Coakley Junior High School in Harlingen, Texas. She has trained, mentored and managed many paraprofessional personnel working with children with disabilities over the past 15 years. She is the supervisor of the city-wide Parks and Recreation Program for the Camp-A-Day Handicapped students program, ensuring the program hires the best staff and fiscal funds are allocated year after year through private and public agencies.

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Dra. Antonia Coello Novello, the winner of the 1998 Mujer Award, embodies all the qualities of a transformational leader. Her unyielding excellence and professional merit led to her appointment as the 14th Surgeon General of the United States. The first woman and the first Hispanic to hold the position, Dra. Novella is a respected medical expert and a tireless advocate of issues affecting the Hispanic community. In 1996, Dr. Novello turned her attention to global health issues when she became the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Special Representative for Health and Nutrition.

Miriam Colón-Valle became the first Puerto Rican accepted at the famed Actor's Studio, where she has been a member for the past twenty-five years. As one of the pioneers of the Hispanic Theatre movement in New York City, Ms. Colón co-founded the Nuevo Circulo Dramático, the first Spanish-language arena theatre in New York. She is the Artistic Director/Founder of The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, steering its course since its inception, and has successfully insured its survival as its artistic head, strategist and fundraiser. In addition to her activities as an actress, producer and director, Ms. Colón is a cultural advisor on the state and federal levels. She was appointed by the then Governor Nelson Rockefeller to the New York State Council on the Arts, where she served for more than ten years. At the national level, she served as a panelist on the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts, and also in the Institutional Advancement Pilot Program Panel. She was also a member of the National Hispanic Task Force.

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NHLI bestowed its fourth annual Mujer Award on Irma Flores Gonzalez, a civil rights activist, champion of Hispanic issues and board Chair of the National Council of La Raza. Flores Gonzalez, who has worked in the private, public and nonprofit sectors, received the prestigious award at NHLI's annual Mujer Award gala in October, 1997 at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. Although the focus of the event was on Flores Gonzalez's remarkable professional accomplishments „ she has served as President of Colegio Cesar Chavéz, worked for the Portland police chief to implement community policing strategies and in 1987 was appointed head of the Oregon State Community Services Agency -- her personal battle with cancer took center stage.

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The daughter of a Mexican farmer, Juana Beatriz Gutiérrez, says that her leadership skills evolved from her determination to keep her nine children away from the gangs and drugs she saw in her Boyle Heights Neighborhood. In 1986, Mrs. Gutierrez, co-founded The Mothers of East L.A. (Las Madres) as a result of plans to build a prison in her neighborhood. Mrs. Gutierrez and several friends organized an information campaign and held weekly candlelight vigils. Their actions brought widespread media attention and California dropped its plans in 1992. Other notable accomplishments of Las Madres are the prevention of a toxic waste incinerator in the city of Vernon; halting the construction of a municipal waste incinerator; a sucessful waterconservation program that offers free low-flush toilets and recycles old ones; a lead poisoning education project and a graffiti removal program.

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Dolores Huerta, co-founder and first Vice President of the United Farm Workers of America, has devoted more than 30 years to establishing the union and to the farm workers' cause. Among the many ideas that she has made into a reality are a retirement village for farm workers and a child care center to keep children out of the fields. She was also responsible for the dues structure that gave farm workers significant financial investment in their own organization. She helped establish a union school to provide language skills and training in leadership. A mother of 11 children, her comments "let them be in demonstrations, marches, picket lines. I want them to be around ethnic groups, not to feel the stigma of racism while they are growing up. I expect them to follow their dreams, to change the world, to make the world a better place."

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Dr. Antonia Pantoja has lived a life of passionate commitment. Now 73, she continues to live life at its' fullest. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1922, her first influence for activism sprang from her grandfather who raised her, a cigar maker and union activist. Restless for new opportunities and freedom from social expectations of her, she immigrated to the United States in 1944. Pantoja persevered in her pursuit of her education by working in a factory job in New York City and attending evening classes. In 1952, she helped form the Puerto Rican Association for Community Affairs (PRACA). Pantoja's personal philosophy and of community service is to build institutions that offer structures of support while providing leadership opportunities. In 1958, she organized the "ASPIRA" club in New York City. ASPIRA, Spanish for "strive" brings Latino students together to encourage growth and leadership skills. Her passion for education and commitment to community came together by establishing Universidad Boricua in 1973, a Puerto Rican research center and bilingual university. Returning to Puerto Rico in 1985, she launched "Producir" a project that enables rural communities create cottage industries, generate employment, and provide services. Like its' founder, it is a model of the future which brought to the forefront a lifetime of commitment and vision.

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