9th Annual
November 30th, 2010
Defining Trends Magazine honors thinkers & innovators icons & heroes risk-takers & role models estrellas & entertainers community pioneers & civic leaders
We call them‌ Trendsetters.
Moving the Vision Forward These past two (2) years have been, to put it mildly, an interesting time in both American and world history. We have witnessed, and lived, a political, social and economic breakdown. And, in case we missed it, various news outlets have consistently informed us of this veritable tsunami of dire news. This tsunami, unlike a marathon runner who stops to replenish him/herself, has only grabbed more negative news to add into the killing fields of our minds. Unlike the marathon, we don’t know where the finish line is for this economic tsunami, in part because of the media tsunami. We have dealt with media and economic tsunamis, and we have reacted to them. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It is what we as humans do – we act and react. We have not been acting on opportunities as much because we are too busy reacting to the economy, our loss of jobs, our inflated mortgages, and the increasingly dire news. But it is our duty, our goal, and our responsibility, to rise above this Newtonian law. We as Latinos – we as Trendsetters – are called upon to a special mission. We are called to rise above – to act, not react. In closing, I would like to send a special message to this year’s Trendsetters: remember that TV show that inspired a little Puerto Rican girl to catapult herself from the projects of the Bronx straight into the history books of the United States of America?
Just as Perry Mason inspired the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, you are inspiring our youth. It is important that you continue in your successes, because our youth need more role models. They can look up to sports figures and Hollywood entertainers, but they need more “where it hits home” – in the communities where they work, live, and play. They need to see -- and want to see – someone that looks like them who is doing things that they may not believe they could do. You Trendsetters aren’t characters like Perry Mason – you are real! Your actions may not reach the masses as a TV show does but your presence and visibility in the community goes a long way by igniting the spark of inspiration. Some of you may not notice the impact that you have had, are having, or will have on our youth. But it is your leadership that will help shape our youth into the leaders of tomorrow. I would like to also extend a special thanks to our sponsors: Pfizer, State Farm, Miller Coors, and Health Plus Felicidades a todos! Sincerely, Juan Guillen
Los últimos dos (2) años han sido, sin exagerar, muy interesantes para la historia de esta nación y del mundo. Hemos sido testigos y hemos vivido cambios políticos, sociales y económicos. Y si no hemos sido conscientes, los medios de comunicación nos han informado permanentemente de este tsunami. Este tsunami, contrario al maratonista que se detiene para tomar aliento, ha cautivado simplemente más noticias negativas para atormentar nuestras mentes. Diferente al maratonista, nosotros no sabemos en donde está la meta de este tsunami económico, en gran parte por el cubrimiento noticioso.
Juan Guillen CEO & Publisher
puertorriqueña para lanzarse desde los proyectos de vivienda de El Bronx hasta los libros de historia de los Estados Unidos. Así como Perry Mason inspiró a la honorable Sonia Sotomayor, ustedes están inspirando a nuestra juventud. Es importante que continúen con su carrera de éxitos porque nuestra juventud necesita de más modelos de vida. Nuestra juventud busca figuras deportivas y estrellas de Hollywood, pero anhela modelos más familiares, provenientes de las comunidades en donde trabajan, viven y juegan. Necesitan y desean ver a alguien que luzca como ellos y que esté haciendo cosas que han considerado inalcanzables.
Hemos enfrentado el tsunami económico y a los medios de comunicación y reaccionamos.
Ustedes como innovadores no son actores como Perry Mason, ¡son reales! Sus acciones quizás no alcanzan a un público como el televidente, pero su presencia y visibilidad en nuestra comunidad llega muy lejos hasta encender la llama de la inspiración.
Para cada acción hay una reacción igual y opuesta. Es lo que hacemos como humanos, actuamos y reaccionamos. No hemos actuado con base en las oportunidades como hemos debido porque estamos muy ocupados reaccionando a la economía, a la pérdida de trabajos, a los elevados préstamos de vivienda y a las noticias.
Algunos de ustedes no han percibido el impacto que han tenido y están logrando y alcanzarán en la juventud. Sin embargo, es su liderazgo el que moldeará a nuestra juventud y los convertirá en líderes del mañana.
Pero es nuestra obligación, nuestra meta y nuestra responsabilidad, levantarnos por encima de este fenómeno. Como latinos e innovadores tenemos que responder a esta exigencia. Es un llamado para despertar, actuar y reaccionar. Para terminar, quiero enviar un mensaje a los innovadores de este año: recordemos que fue un programa de televisión el que inspiró a una niña
También deseo extender mi gratitud a nuestros patrocinadores: Pfizer, State Farm, Miller Coors y Health Plus. ¡Felicidades a todos! Sinceramente, Juan Guillén CEO & Gerente General
PROGRAM
EVENT HOSTS
Welcome Juan Guillen, CEO DTM Group (TBD)
Invocation
Veronica Contreras
Father John Duffel
Dinner Presentation of Awards Jose Luis Rodriguez (Media) Lourdes Lopez (Diversity) Miguel Pozo (Legal) Ruben Diaz (Government) Laura Posada (Activism) Lutzi Vieluf (Business) Elizabeth Chalas Berman (Business) Randy Berman (Special Award) Maritza Puello (Journalism) Jenny Rivera (Education) Richard Gonzalez (Banking) Jose Pinero (Technology) Dr. Angela Diaz (Health) Willie Colon (Music)
Recognition of Scholarship Winners
Veronica Contreras is the weekday sports anchor for WNJU’s “Noticiero 47 at 6 and 11 p.m.” She also files a series of special reports for the station’s various newscasts. Contreras has won two ACE (Asociación de Cronistas de Entretenimiento) Awards, and has been honored by the Hispanic New York and Casa Puebla’s “Cinco de Mayo Festival” to name a few. She has also represented the station at the MS Bike Tour and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC Annual 5K Run/Walk. Recently, Contreras won an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Sports Coverage from The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).
April Lee Hernandez-Castillo Performers Lorenzo LaRoc Violinist Victor Cruz Comedian Mariposa and Oveous Maximus Spoken Word Artists Natalia Segura Singer Closing Remarks Juan Guillen
April Lee Hernandez-Castillo is a film and television actress, best known for her role in the 2007 drama Freedom Writers, in which she played Eva, based on real-life high school student Maria Reyes. Hernandez-Castillo studied nutrition in Hunter College, but was inspired to pursue a comedy career after seeing John Leguizamo’s offBroadway production, Mambo Mouth. Aside from performing stand-up comedy, she has also appeared in several commercials, as well as on the television series ER, Law & Order, Rescue Me, and 30 Rock.
2010 TRENDSETTERS Bill Gallo
Writer / Cartoonist, NY Daily News Bill Gallo is one of the most decorated and respected editorial cartoonists and columnists in American journalism. As a cartoonist, Bill won the “Reuben” in his category of Sports Cartoonist from the National Cartoonist Society 10 times. He has won the Page One Journalism Award from the New York Newspaper Guild 20 times. He has also won the Power of Printing Award, the Segar Award (as outstanding Cartoonist in 1975), the Milton Caniff Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Cartoonists Society and the Achievement Award for Alumni from the School of Visual Arts. For his work as a boxing columnist, he was given the James J. Walker Award and the Barney Award from the Boxing Writers of America, the Champions Award from the Downtown Athletic Club, the Red Smith Award from the National Arts Club and in 2001, he entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writers of America also recently honored him with an award for lifetime achievement. His book, “Drawing a Crowd,” is a memoir of his life as a newspaperman, and he is also the author, along with television anchor Ernie Anastis, of a children’s book called “Ernie’s Newz.” He is the founder of “Gallo’s Geezers,” a group which celebrates people over 65.
Soledad O’Brien
Anchor / Special Correspondent, CNN Soledad O’Brien is an anchor and special correspondent for CNN/U.S. Since joining the network in 2003, O’Brien has reported breaking news from around the globe and has produced awardwinning and record-breaking documentaries on the most important stories facing the world today. She also covers political news as part of CNN’s “Best Political Team on Television.” O’Brien came to CNN from NBC News where she anchored the network’s Weekend Today since July 1999. Prior, O’Brien anchored MSNBC’s awardwinning technology program The Site. O’Brien joined NBC News in 1991 and was based in New York as a field producer for Nightly News and TODAY. Before her time at NBC, she served three years as a local reporter and bureau chief for the NBC affiliate KRON in San Francisco. She began her career as an associate producer and news writer at the then-NBC affiliate WBZ-TV in Boston. O’Brien is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She is a graduate of Harvard University.
Junot Diazt
Pulitzer Prize Winner Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He is the author of Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the John Sargent, Sr., First Novel Prize; the National Book Critics Circle Award; the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award; and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. Díaz has been awarded the Eugene McDermott Award, a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, a Lila Acheson Wallace Reader’s Digest Award, the 2002 PEN/ Malamud Award, the 2003 U.S./Japan Creative Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, and the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the fiction editor at the Boston Review and the Rudge (1948), and Nancy Allen Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Alex Sensation
DJ Lamega 97.9 FM Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Alex Sensation (as he is artistically known) immigrated to the United States at a young age. Influenced by his brother who was also a DJ, Alex began collecting music and at age 16 was already a disc jockey at various nightclubs. At 17 years old, he was working at the world renowned Copacabana Nightclub. In order to work at the club, he had to tell the club’s management he was 19 years old. Alex was determined to succeed and his passion for music went far and beyond. Besides his great mixing skills and talent, what makes Alex Sensation stand out in the radio industry? His appeal to a broad audience that includes various nationalities: he enjoys mixing different genres, all of which are linked to his tropical music roots. “I grew up listening to salsa and cumbia because of my roots. One of the first clubs I DJed at on the weekends was a Dominican club. There, I learned about the Dominican culture through the music -- Bachata, Merengue, Merengue típico -- when I was still very young. I made many Dominican friends and fell in love with their culture.” His true passion is everything within the Caribbean music. “I mix it all under that genre, but also knowing what the Anglo market has to offer.” Alex Sensation is truly well versed in all markets. Alex Sensation equals diversity!
Carlos Sanchez A Vice President / General Manager, WNJU-TV Channel 47 (Telemundo) Carlos Sanchez is the incoming Vice President and General Manager of WNJU channel 47 (Telemundo) in New York. Before moving to New York he was the VP/GM of Telemundo in Las Vegas, NV and Denver, CO and managed both stations while residing in Las Vegas. Prior to making his move to Las Vegas he was the Vice President and General Manager of XHAS Telemundo in San Diego, California. He managed a dual location television station with operations on both sides of the U.S. and Mexico border. Carlos has many years of television media experience and has held several management positions throughout his career. Before transitioning into media he worked in sales management for the transportation industry handling large international accounts based along the Mexico and U.S. border. Carlos now makes New York his home with his wife, Lissa, and two young daughters, Samanta and Alecssa.
Jacqueline Gonzalez
Executive Director, The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Jacqueline J. Gonzalez is the Executive Director of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, New York (NATAS, NY) and Executive Producer of the Annual New York Emmy® Awards gala. During her 10 years at NATAS NY, Ms. Gonzalez has demonstrated her skills as a strategist seasoned in defining opportunities and executing the actions needed to achieve success. Her ability to combine crossfunctional management competencies with a solid foundation in business has allowed her to advance key relationships and strategic alliances to successfully propel the Academy’s unprecedented growth and development. She oversees the efforts of NATAS NY staff and Committee Members, carries out operations for the Emmy® process and has crafted innovative programs, opportunities and benefits for Academy members. Ms. Gonzalez is an NYU graduate who loves international travel and has a natural fluency for languages. She is fully bilingual (English and Spanish) and has a conversational command of Italian. She’s currently studying French and Russian. Ms. Gonzalez is also the proud recipient of the 2008 New York Emmy® Award for Outstanding Special Event Coverage.
Javier Palomarez
Miguel Centeno
Palomarez is one of the nation’s pre-eminent multi-cultural sales and marketing executives. He is a sought-after spokesperson, thoughtleader and strategist on the issues affecting America’s consumers, particularly those in the Hispanic community. His opinions and points of view have appeared in leading publications including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, USA Today and many others. Prior to the USHCC, Palomarez served as Vice President of Multicultural Marketing at ING Financial Services, where he was recruited to lead diversity outreach programs. He was responsible for marketing, sponsorships, public relations and external communications to help position this global leader in the financial services industry.
Miguel currently serves as Director of Community Relations, Northeast Region for Aetna. In this capacity, he is responsible for forging mutually beneficial, strategic partnerships with communitybased organizations that improve the health of diverse communities, enhance the Aetna brand and create sales opportunities. Since arriving at Aetna, Miguel has been recognized for his Community Relations efforts. These include the LISTA (Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association) Corporate Citizen Award, and the 2008 Corporate Citizen Award from the Queens Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The Business Outreach Center Network presented Miguel with a Minority and Women Entrepreneur Award. Miguel was recently selected as one of the “Top 25 Corporate Elite” by Hispanic Business magazine and was included in the exclusive and prestigious 2009 Crain’s Forty Under 40 list in New York.
President / CEO, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Regional Director Northeast of Community Relations & Urban Marketing
Dr. Debra Joy Perez
Senior Program Officer in Research & Evaluation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Dr. Debra Joy Pérez, M.A., M.P.A., Ph.D., is a senior program officer in Research and Evaluation where among other priorities she is responsible for the Foundation’s research and evaluation work on the Public Health Team and leads programs that focus on increasing the diverse perspectives that inform the Foundation’s grant making. As senior program officer for New Connections: Increasing Diversity of RWJF Programming, Dr Pérez works with historically under-represented investigators and identifies opportunities to link this new talent to the Foundation’s work across health and healthcare research areas. This expansion of diverse perspectives in programming includes oversight of the RWJF Evaluation Fellows Program which provides evaluation training and placements to evaluators from under-represented groups. Dr Perez is also the Chair of the RWJF Diversity Committee working within the Foundation and with other foundations to enhance the quality and impact of philanthropy by incorporating diverse perspectives. In addition, she is also the Senior Program Officer responsible for managing the National Urban Fellows program at RWJF which supports under-represented midcareers in a 9 month non-profit management mentorships across the country. To date, Dr. Perez has mentored 14 National Urban Fellows. As the former program officer for the Disparities Team, she was responsible for developing major initiatives designed to find interventions that work to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare called Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change and establish learning network of providers implementing strategies to serve the limited English proficient patient populations called Speaking Together: National Language Services Network.
Directora
Jose Tavarez
Managing Director Managing Director, Head of Emerging Markets Institutional Sales for the Americas Region Bank of America Merrill Lynch Mr. Tavarez has held a number of key positions during his 13 year career at the bank. From 1997-1999, Mr. Tavarez was the co-head of Merrill Lynch’s fixed income sales and distribution business in Sao Paulo, Brazil where at a very young age, he was responsible for building the firm’s Institutional sales business in the region. From 1998-2000, Mr. Tavarez worked as a corporate bond trader where he was responsible for both secondary and proprietary risk taking in the Media, Telecommunications and Financial sectors in Latin America. Prior to joining Bank of America - Merrill Lynch, Mr. Tavarez held positions as a Management Consultant for both Hewitt Associates and KPMG Peat Marwick in New York and Connecticut. Mr. Tavarez holds a BA in Marketing and Strategic Management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Undergraduate School of Business where he was also a 4 year letter-winner on the Men’s Varsity Basketball team. Additionally, he holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, where he was a member of the Sales and Trading Club and President of the Hispanic Business Association.
Nereida Perez
Anginette Padilla
Chief Diversity Officer, National Grid
Resource Manager, Booz Allen Hamilton
Nereida (Neddy) Perez serves as National Grid’s Chief Diversity Officer. In that capacity, she is responsible for the developing and guiding the company’s Diversity and Inclusion efforts. Neddy’s background includes more than 19 years of experience in Human Resources, Diversity Management, Community Relations, and Internal Communications. Prior to joining National Grid, she led diversity efforts at KPMG, external diversity relations at Sodexo and diversity efforts at Shell Oil’s Global Solutions division. She has worked in the UK, Netherlands, and Latin America. Born in Havana, Cuba she realized at an early age the power of education as a way to break through the glass ceiling and over come prejudice. As a result, she has worked with a variety of non-profit organizations to support and create programs that empower people and remove organizational barriers.
In Ms. Padilla’s most recent role as a Diversity Recruiter at Booz Allen Hamilton, she served as the channel lead for the Latin American, Asian American, LGBT, and Women’s recruiting initiatives. Ms. Padilla successfully implemented recruiting strategies on both local and national levels. Her efforts contributed to the firm winning two awards with the Hispanic Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Ms. Padilla comes to Booz Allen Hamilton from Fannie Mae where she was the Diversity Recruiting and Sourcing Manager. She developed diversity-recruiting tools and initiated programs to facilitate talent sourcing, acquisition, and retention. Ms. Padilla also created and managed Fannie Mae’s Recruiting Ambassador Program where hiring managers and business partners strategically collaborated in recruiting activities. Her efforts contributed to the firm winning the Latina Style Top 50 Employers.
Karla Sanchez
Partner / General Commercial Litigator, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler Karla Sanchez is a general commercial litigator. In addition to a wide-range of general commercial disputes, Karla’s practice focuses on (a) intellectual property litigation, including patents, trade dress and false advertising; (b) complex financial litigation involving residential mortgage-backed securities; (c) licensing disputes; and (d) products liability. She has successfully litigated before courts and arbitration panels throughout the country representing both plaintiffs and defendants involving a broad range of products and disciplines, including residential mortgage-backed securities, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, underwater sea cables, and consumer products such as no-calorie sweeteners, personal lubricants and pizza. She is the first and sole Hispanic partner at Patterson Belknap. She has been recognized as one of Crain’s New York Business’s 40 Under Forty. Ms. Sanchez is Chair of the Firm’s Diversity Committee and Chair of the Patterson Attorneys of Color, an affinity group focused on issues relevant to its member attorneys. Prior to joining Patterson Belknap, Ms. Sanchez served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Deborah A. Batts, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Dr. Ricardo Fernandez
President, Lehman College City University of New York Throughout his four-decade career in education, Dr. Fernández has focused on how to improve educational outcomes, especially on programs to provide the preparation and encouragement needed for more minority students to enter and succeed in college. His published books and research reports deal with the causes of Hispanic school dropout, the desegregation of Hispanic students, and bilingual education policy. At Lehman he has fostered collaboration between the College and local schools in the areas of technology, the arts, professional development, and curriculum enrichment. During his tenure, the College has significantly increased the level of its grant-funded research and the variety and reach of its educational programs, while also becoming a major resource for the borough’s economic, cultural, and educational development. Dr. Fernández received a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and a master’s degree in Spanish Literature from Marquette University, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures from Princeton University. An American Council of Education Fellow in Academic Administration in 1981-82, he attended the Harvard Institute for Educational Management in 1992.
Edward Montes
CEO, Global – Adnetik As CEO, Edward Montes is responsible for overseeing international operations and the Adnetik global vision. Prior to becoming the CEO at Adnetik, Ed served as the Regional Manager for Havas Digital, North America, which included managing staff at five locations: New York, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and Toronto, while continuing to drive strategic new business and special initiatives. In this role, Ed managed digital media planning and buying- including search and analytics, Mobextmobile marketing, and AIS- Digital and Direct Creative agency. In 2009, he was recognized for his superior leadership with the Media All Star award by MediaWeek. Before joining, Ed worked at Yahoo! Inc., and he served as a consultant to the wireless technology industry.
Armando Monterroso
Executive Chef, New Yo rk Marriott Marquis The New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square appointed Armando Monterroso executive chef in 2008, in one of the city’s largest hotels, which has five restaurants and over 100,000 square feet of banquet space. Chef Monterroso returned to New York after seven years of experience in Costa Rica, San Francisco and Philadelphia. His first taste of New York restaurant experience began over 10 years ago, when he worked under top New York City chefs, including Laurent Gras (Peacock Alley, The Waldorf = Astoria Hotel), Marcus Samuelsson (Aquavit) and Rocco DiSpirito (Union Pacific). Born in Los Angeles, California, Armando is the son of Costa Rican and Colombian parents. In 2002, he moved to Costa Rica to connect with his family roots and to learn more about Latin American food. He decided to live there and was executive chef at the Costa Rica Marriott Hotel San Jose, Marriott’s beautiful hacienda-style resort property set in a 30-acre coffee plantation. He frequented Costa Rica’s farmers’ markets to explore all the varieties of fresh foods and brought them to the hotel’s tables. To this day, ethnic foods are amongst his favorites to prepare, as he feels that classic ethnic food has so much love put into its preparation.
2009 Latino Trendsetter Award Recipients
top left: Silvester Del Rosario, Juan Guillen, Judy Torres, Robson Mello, Yacov E. Wrocherinsky, Fernando Montejo, Nadia Martinez, M.D., Rafael Alvarez, Frank Flores, Antonio Ibarria, Luis M. Estevez, Mariela Fermin, Tomรกs D. Morales, Napoleon Barragan, Ernest Gonzales
Contact Juan Guillen, Publisher, for Marketing Solutions that fit. www.LatinTrends.com phone: 212-851-6164
The 2010 Scholarship Winners From 100 Hispanic Women Leadership Program
Raquel Headshot College
Conie Torres College