{"id":268792,"date":"2024-11-18T22:26:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T18:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/english-mexican-american-opportunity-foundations-56th-annual-aztec-awards-honored-trailblazers-inspiring-change-in-the-latino-community\/"},"modified":"2024-11-18T23:30:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T03:30:01","slug":"la-56a-edicion-anual-de-los-premios-aztecas-de-la-mexican-american-opportunity-foundation-honro-a-los-pioneros-que-inspiran-el-cambio-en-la-comunidad-latina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/la-56a-edicion-anual-de-los-premios-aztecas-de-la-mexican-american-opportunity-foundation-honro-a-los-pioneros-que-inspiran-el-cambio-en-la-comunidad-latina\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexican American Opportunity Foundation&#8217;s 56th Annual Aztec Awards Honored Trailblazers Inspiring Change in the Latino Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><![CDATA[\n\/* Style Definitions *\/\nspan.prnews_span\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\na.prnews_a\n{\ncolor:blue;\n}\nli.prnews_li\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\np.prnews_p\n{\nfont-size:0.62em;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\nmargin:0in;\n}\n]]><\/style>\n<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p><span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-location\">LOS ANGELES<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-chron\">Nov. 18, 2024<\/span><\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212; The Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF) hosted its 56th Annual Aztec Awards on <span class=\"xn-chron\">Thursday, November 14<\/span>, at The Novo at LA Live in downtown <span class=\"xn-location\">Los Angeles<\/span>. This inspiring evening honored leaders making significant contributions to the Latino community while celebrating culture, unity, and progress.<\/p>\n<p>The event began with a powerful performance of the American national anthem by <b><span class=\"xn-person\">Andy Vargas<\/span><\/b>, lead singer of Santana, joined by members of <b><span class=\"xn-location\">Los Lobos<\/span><\/b>. A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the <b>Dionicio Morales Lifetime Achievement Aztec Award<\/b> to <b>C\u00e1stulo de la Rocha<\/b>, President &amp; CEO of AltaMed Health Services. &#8220;I am deeply honored to receive the Dionicio Morales Lifetime Achievement Aztec Award,&#8221; said de la Rocha. &#8220;As the founder of MAOF and a personal mentor, <span class=\"xn-person\">Dionicio Morales<\/span> profoundly influenced my journey and inspired my life&#8217;s work. This recognition reflects our shared dedication to expanding opportunities, advancing access to care, and empowering future generations within our vibrant and resilient Latino community.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>Mayor of <span class=\"xn-location\">Los Angeles<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-person\">Karen Bass<\/span><\/b>, attended the event and presented <b>U.S. Congressman <span class=\"xn-person\">Tony C\u00e1rdenas<\/span><\/b> with the <i>Government Award<\/i>, recognizing his enduring commitment to public service. Hosted by <b><span class=\"xn-person\">Natalia Perez<\/span><\/b>, iHeartMedia On-Air Personality and In-Stadium Host for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the program also honored actress <b><span class=\"xn-person\">Jessica Marie Garcia<\/span><\/b> with the <i>Entertainment Award<\/i> for representing Latinas in entertainment with authenticity and pride, and Founder of The Latina Golfers Association, <b><span class=\"xn-person\">Azucena Maldonado<\/span><\/b> with the <i>Sports Award<\/i> for promoting diversity and inclusion in golf.<\/p>\n<p>Additional special guests included actors <b>Matt Cede\u00f1o<\/b> (Ruthless), <b><span class=\"xn-person\">Natasha Esca<\/span><\/b> (Narcos: <span class=\"xn-location\">Mexico<\/span>), <span class=\"xn-person\">Natasha Perez<\/span> (Selena: The Series), <span class=\"xn-person\">Adriana Fonseca<\/span> (Fearless Heart) \u00a0and professional boxer <b>Victor <\/b><b><span class=\"xn-location\">Ortiz<\/span><\/b>. The evening concluded with an energetic performance by <b><span class=\"xn-location\">Los Lobos<\/span><\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Aztec Awards celebrate leaders who transform lives and inspire change,&#8221; remarked <b>Dr. <span class=\"xn-person\">Ciriaco Pinedo<\/span><\/b>, President &amp; CEO of MAOF. &#8220;This year&#8217;s honorees embody resilience, vision, and an unwavering commitment to our community. At MAOF, we are proud to stand alongside them as we create pathways for success, foster generational empowerment, and strengthen the foundation of our Latino community.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>MAOF extends heartfelt gratitude to attendees and sponsors for their generous support, including presenting sponsor, MAOF Properties, Inc., as well as AltaMed, SoCalGas, US Bank, Elite Business Source, Heffernan Insurance Brokers, Adventist Health, Kaiser Permanente, Walmart, Telemundo NBC Universo, AT&amp;T, LA Department of Water &amp; Power, Aflac, Atomic Investments Inc., aalrr Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud &amp; Romo, LA County Supervisor <span class=\"xn-person\">Hilda L. Solis<\/span>, North Star Alliances, Beserra Consulting, LA County Supervisor <span class=\"xn-person\">Lindsey Horvath<\/span>, AmTrust, and Mutual of America Financial Group.<\/p>\n<p>Since 1963, MAOF has dedicated itself to the socio-economic betterment of the greater Latino community in <span class=\"xn-location\">California<\/span>. By fostering pride in Mexican-American heritage, MAOF provides essential social services across early childhood education, senior services, community development, and community partnerships. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=4305746-1&amp;h=3791410367&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maof.org%2F&amp;a=www.MAOF.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.MAOF.org<\/a><\/u><\/p>\n<p>SOURCE  Mexican American Opportunity Foundation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"xn-content\">\n<p><span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-location\">LOS ANGELES<\/span><\/span>, <span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-chron\">Nov. 18, 2024<\/span><\/span> \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212; The Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF) hosted its 56th Annual Aztec Awards on <span class=\"xn-chron\">Thursday, November 14<\/span>, at The Novo at LA Live in downtown <span class=\"xn-location\">Los Angeles<\/span>. This inspiring evening honored leaders making significant contributions to the Latino community while celebrating culture, unity, and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-268792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arte-y-cultura"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268792"}],"version-history":[{"count":"1","href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268793,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268792\/revisions\/268793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}