Join us for our annual Latina/o Heritage Month Celebration & Awards Reception, honoring the individuals and partnerships driving lasting change across Los Angeles County.
This year’s theme, Constellations of Leadership, celebrates the network of leaders, advocates, partners, and changemakers who have illuminated the path toward equity for Latina/o communities across the region. Just as individual stars come together to form powerful constellations, our collective impact is made possible by the people whose leadership strengthens our movement.
For more than 25 years, ABC has advanced equity and opportunity through policy advocacy, civic engagement, leadership development, and community power building. This signature event brings together community leaders, elected officials, philanthropic partners, businesses, advocates, and supporters to honor the extraordinary individuals and partnerships driving lasting change across our region.
Our Honorees
Senator Maria Elena Durazo has spent decades championing economic justice, workers’ rights, and immigrant protections. Before serving in the State Senate, she empowered thousands of predominantly Latina/o hospitality workers through her leadership of HERE Local 11. In the Legislature, she has continued that legacy, authoring landmark legislation establishing California’s first statewide minimum wage for healthcare workers and protecting street vendors from having their personal information shared for federal immigration enforcement. Her lifelong commitment to advancing opportunity has created lasting change and inspired generations of leaders.
SEIU-United Service Workers West President David Huerta has spent his career championing the rights and dignity of California’s working families, demonstrating that economic justice and immigrant justice are inseparable. Through his leadership, thousands of janitors, security officers, and other essential workers have fought for better wages, stronger workplace protections, and greater economic opportunity. His unwavering commitment to defending immigrant communities during federal immigration enforcement actions embodies the spirit of the Changemaker Award.
Singer-songwriter Nezza has consistently used her voice and platform to uplift issues impacting Latina/o and immigrant communities. From her decision to sing the national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium, despite being instructed not to, to organizing a benefit concert supporting immigrant rights organizations on the frontlines, she has shown that music and the arts can be a powerful form of solidarity and resistance. As the daughter of immigrants, Nezza continues to share experiences that resonate deeply with our community and show what it means to use your platform when it matters most.
The documentary short La Tierra del Valor tells the story of Nezza singing the national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium on No Kings Day. In May, we joined the filmmakers for a discussion at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, and we are partnering with Latino Theater Company to co-host a screening at Laemmle Glendale on September 10 as the film pursues an Oscar nomination. To learn more about the film, its journey, and how it aligns with ABC’s work, click here.
Our 2025 Latino Heritage Month Celebration
A Look Back: Honorees from the Last Three Years
Legacy Award
Father Gregory Boyle
Father Gregory Boyle, S.J., is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the world’s largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program. A Jesuit priest born and raised in Los Angeles, he served as pastor of Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights, where he and parishioners launched Homeboy Industries as a radical response to the devastation of gang violence. For more than three decades, he has championed a message of kinship and compassion, authored four acclaimed books including the bestseller Tattoos on the Heart, and received numerous honors for his leadership—including the California Peace Prize, the Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and the 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Changemaker Award
Angélica Salas
Angelica is a state and national leader in the advocacy for immigration reform and immigrant justice. As CHIRLA’s Executive Director, she has grown CHIRLA into one of the nation’s largest and most effective immigrant rights organizations that organizes, advocates, educates, and provides legal services to all immigrants. Angelica has spearheaded ambitious statewide and national campaigns to expand immigrant rights, with successes that include winning in-state, financial aid and grant programs for California’s undocumented students, establishing day-laborer centers that become national models, winning drivers’ licenses for undocumented drivers, decoupling local police departments from immigration enforcement, expanding access to immigrant legal services and winning Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Voz del Pueblo Award
L.A. TACO
Founded in 2006, L.A. TACO is an independently owned media platform that has redefined local journalism by bringing raw, street-level reporting to Los Angeles. What began as a celebration of tacos, graffiti, and street culture has grown into a trusted voice—telling stories other outlets overlook while also maintaining a beloved, constantly updated guide to the best taquerías in the region.
With its unique blend of food, culture, and hard-hitting journalism, L.A. TACO has built a loyal membership base and community that sustains its work. Its coverage of immigration, deportation raids, and the lived experiences of working Angelenos has earned citywide trust and national recognition, including the James Beard Foundation’s Emerging Voice Award. From hosting taco festivals to publishing investigative reporting, L.A. TACO has become an indispensable voice for Los Angeles—authentically reflecting its people, its struggles, and its joy.
Legacy Award
Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta is a civil rights activist and community organizer. She has worked for labor rights and social justice for over 50 years. In 1962, she and Cesar Chavez founded the United Farm Workers Union. She served as Vice President and was critical in many of the union’s accomplishments for four decades. In 2002, she received the Puffin/Nation $100,000 prize for Creative Citizenship, which she used to establish the Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF). DHF is engaging in groundbreaking community-based organizing to state and national movements to register and educate voters; advocate for education reform; improve infrastructure in low-income communities; advocate for greater equality for the LGBT community; and create strong leadership development. She has received numerous awards, including President Clinton’s Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1998. In 2012, President Obama bestowed Dolores with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.
Changemaker Award
Veronica Carrizales
Veronica Carrizales is managing director of programs at The California Wellness Foundation. In her role, Carrizales helps integrate grantmaking strategies across the Advancing Wellness portfolios, enhances the grant review process, and pilots potential solutions in collaboration with grantees and other community partners.
Carrizales spent the past 15 years with California Calls, a powerful statewide alliance of community-based organizations spanning urban, rural, and suburban counties across the state. As a widely respected social justice leader, she has led efforts tied to California Call’s policy priorities of funding public services, improving government effectiveness, reforming the tax system to improve equity, and investing in economic development that results in good jobs that bring dollars into all communities. Prior to her work at California Calls, she served as a labor specialist at the UC Berkeley Labor Center advocating for low-wage workers. Her lived experience growing up in the Coachella Valley in a migrant farmworker family has fueled her passion as a social justice advocate.
Power Building Award
California Calls
California Calls is a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to building power in communities of color and working-class communities through civic engagement, voter participation, and community organizing. Since 2009, California Calls has worked to strengthen democracy by mobilizing voters, developing community leadership, and creating pathways for historically underrepresented communities to have a greater voice in the decisions that impact their lives. Through its integrated voter engagement programs and coalition-building efforts, California Calls has advanced critical issues including economic justice, workers’ rights, healthcare access, education equity, and criminal justice reform.
Legacy Award
Honorable Gloria Molina
Gloria Molina was a trailblazing public servant whose groundbreaking career transformed Los Angeles and paved the way for future generations of women and Latina leaders. As the first Latina elected to the California State Assembly, the Los Angeles City Council, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, she broke barriers while championing policies that expanded access to healthcare, education, transportation, parks, and economic opportunity. Throughout decades of public service, Molina was a fearless advocate for underserved communities, using her voice to advance equity, accountability, and justice across Los Angeles County. Her unwavering commitment to improving the lives of working families and her historic legacy of leadership continue to inspire communities throughout California and beyond.
Changemaker Award
Asm. Wendy Carrillo
Wendy Carrillo is a journalist, community advocate, and public servant who has dedicated her career to advancing equity and opportunity for Californians. As the Assemblymember representing California’s 52nd Assembly District, she has championed legislation to expand access to housing, protect immigrant communities, strengthen workers’ rights, and promote environmental justice and public safety. Throughout her time in the California State Assembly, Carrillo has been a steadfast advocate for the Latino/a community, leading on complex issues and working to improve the lives of families across Los Angeles and the state. Her commitment to public service, courageous leadership, and tireless advocacy have made her a respected voice in advancing social, economic, and racial justice for all Californians.
Community & Public Service Award
Monica Garcia
Monica Garcia is a lifelong educator, public servant, and advocate for educational equity. During her tenure on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, including serving as Board President, she championed policies that expanded educational opportunities and improved outcomes for students across Los Angeles, particularly those from underserved communities. Throughout her career, Garcia has been a leading voice for college and career readiness, community schools, and increased access to high-quality public education for Latina/o students and families. Her leadership has helped shape transformative education policies while inspiring greater civic engagement and community leadership. Through her unwavering commitment to students, families, and educational justice, Monica Garcia has made a lasting impact on Los Angeles and the Latino/a community.
Power Building Award
SEIU Local 99
SEIU Local 99 is a labor union dedicated to improving the lives of education workers, public service employees, and working families across the greater Los Angeles region. For decades, SEIU Local 99 has fought for fair wages, better benefits, and dignity for the essential workers who keep our communities strong, many of whom are Latina/o. Under the leadership of President Max Arias, SEIU Local 99 achieved a historic agreement with Los Angeles Unified School District, securing meaningful improvements for thousands of workers and setting a powerful example for labor movements across the country. Through advocacy, organizing, and collective action, SEIU Local 99 continues to uplift working-class communities and advance economic justice.
