HPRA-LA Honors Voices Of Courage At Annual Scholarship Program

The Hispanic Public Relations Association, Los Angeles Chapter (HPRA-LA) honored three Latinas who are leveraging their influence to uplift the Latino community at its annual scholarship program at the Conga Room at LA Live on Thursday, Sept. 12.

Nearly 200 top public relations and marketing executives representing numerous industries of film, music, corporate, government and non-profits, joined the PRemio Awards & Scholarship Program, dancing the night away to cumbia and salsa music as this year’s theme was “One Night in Havana.” The “Queen of Spanglish Media” Raquel RaqC Cordova served as the mistress of ceremonies.

“What a thrilling evening! It was a magical time to share HPRA’s goals of empowering its members through support, resources, and education, and offer guidance and assistance to Latinx students pursuing careers in public relations,” said 2018-19 HPRA-LA President Stephen Chavez, CEO of ChavezPR. “We recognized three inspiring women making their mark in the world while shining a bright light on the needs and issues of our diverse community.”  

This year’s Voices of Courage awards honored actress of the hit TV show “One Day at A Time” Isabella Gomez, the Executive Director of CARECEN, an immigrant rights organization, Martha Arevalo, and renowned broadcast journalist at Univision Los Angeles, Cecilia Bogran.

Throughout its 35 years as a professional association, HPRA-LA PRemio Awards has raised more than $400,000 awarding scholarships to deserving Latino college students pursuing a degree in Communications.

This year’s scholarship winners included: Melody Waintal, a senior at USC, Diego Perdomo, a senior at USC, and Karina Valenzuela, a junior at Pepperdine University.