National LULAC leaders to attend Iowa Latino awards banquet

Filed under "Press Releases"
View Attached PDF »
More articles »

For immediate release

Oct. 28, 2013

DES MOINES – The inaugural Iowa Latino Leadership Awards Banquet on Nov. 1 will draw top officials from the national League of United Latin American Citizens to Iowa including the organization’s president and executive director.

LULAC National President Margaret Moran will attend the event on Nov. 1, along with National Vice President of the Midwest Darryl Morin, National Vice President of Elderly Affairs Frank Urteaga and LULAC Executive Director Brent Wilkes.

The awards banquet is the first of its kind in Iowa, where Latinos are recognizing other Latinos who have made a key difference in the community. The first Emerging Latino Leadership Scholarship will be awarded at the banquet, hosted by the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa.

“We are honored that President Moran and other national LULAC officials recognize the hard work we are doing in Iowa to make this great state a more welcoming place for Latinos to work, live, receive an education and raise a family,” said Joe Enriquez Henry, state director of LULAC of Iowa. “This event will provide Latinos the opportunity to meet national, state and local Latino leaders and community activists.”

Moran will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Dubuque Room at the Marriott Hotel, 700 Grand Ave., to discuss immigration reform and other issues.

Also, in the Dubuque Room, Urteaga, the national elderly affairs vice president, will host a special event for seniors, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

The Iowa Latino Leadership Awards Banquet will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott. A dinner and awards program will follow. This is a formal event. Black tie is optional.

In addition to the national LULAC officials, several elected leaders are expected to be in attendance.

The following individuals will be honored at the awards presentation:

• LULAC Builder Award – Mike Reyes, president of Council 10. Reyes has been involved with LULAC since the mid-1980s, and has served as president of LULAC Council 10 in eastern Iowa for the past three years. During that time, he has helped revitalize the council and raised public awareness of the role LULAC has played in the Quad Cities for more than 53 years.
• Latino Business Person of the Year Award – Antonia Mosqueda, restaurant entrepreneur. Mosqueda and her husband, Richard, came to Des Moines from Fort Madison and opened their first Tasty Tacos restaurant on the city’s east side with a $500 loan. They now have five restaurants in the Des Moines area.
• Latino Hero Award – Des Moines Police Lt. Joe Gonzalez, who is a 42-year veteran of the police department. He joined as a teenage cadet, and has been in charge of the department’s neighborhood-based service delivery unit and is a vital liaison in the department’s outreach to the Hispanic/Latino community.
• Iowa Latino Leadership Award – Sonia Parras Konrad, immigration lawyer and co-executive director of ASISTA Immigrant Assistance. Konrad is an activist, attorney and educator on domestic violence issues and legal remedies for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. She has spoken nationally and internationally about women’s rights.
• Emerging Latino Leader Scholarship Award – Hector Salamanca, youth services organizers for the American Friends Service Committee and a Dreamer. Salamanca has worked in support of the DREAM Act and in-state tuition on behalf of immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children with their parents.

Admission is $50. Table sponsorships are available for $500 (10 tickets and printed recognition). Event sponsorship is available for $1,000 (10 tickets, printed and verbal recognition). Seniors and youth, 18 and younger, pay $20. Purchase tickets online through the LULAC website: www.LULACIowa.org, or mail checks made payable to “LULAC” to LULAC, 2463 E. Highview Drive, Des Moines, IA 50320. Tickets must be purchased by Oct. 29.

Founded in 1929, the League of United Latin American Citizens is the oldest Latino civil rights organization in the United States. There are more than 900 local LULAC councils, which hold voter registration drives, provide awareness to residents about language and immigration issues, sponsor programs and advocate for Latinos.

For more information, contact Joe Enriquez Henry at 515.208.7312; or Melissa Walker at 515.681.7731 or media@iowalatinos.org, or visit www.lulaciowa.org.

############

Leave Your Comments

We welcome your comments. Please leave your ideas and opinions below.

Create your own avatar photo with Gravatar's free service.