HPRA Celebrates 20th Anniversary.

The Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA), a non-profit organization founded to advance the careers of Hispanics in the Communications industry, commemorated its 20th anniversary at the 2004 PRemio Awards & Scholarship Dinner on Wednesday, October 20th in Los Angeles. Returning to its roots, the celebration will take place at USC’s historical Town and Gown ballroom, the site where the first ever HPRA event was held.

The PRemio Awards, HPRA’s largest fund-raiser, brought together more than 200 specialists in the fields of Communications to honor esteemed Hispanic professionals for their outstanding contributions in the fields of public relations, journalism, and arts & entertainment. HPRA also selected a corporation of the year, showcasing the ever-growing talent in the industry and the companies that have made vast strides in their diversity practices. Most importantly, the organization granted $10,000 worth of scholarships to outstanding undergraduate Hispanic students who are pursuing careers in public relations and related communications fields.

This year’s PRemio Award honorees were: Fernando del Rio, president of Dome Enterprises, in public relations; J. Gerardo Lopez, former executive editor of La Opinión, in journalism; Grammy Award winning artists, “Los Lobos,” in arts & entertainment; and non-profit health care provider Kaiser Permanente, for corporation of the year.

In addition to recognizing this year’s distinguished honorees and scholarship recipients, the evening’s program also recognized its founders and past presidents.

HPRA President Sandra Bernardo said, “We are excited to be able to incorporate a special element to the dinner with a tribute for those individuals that shared a vision in creating a voice and network of Hispanic professionals in the Communications industry. Their effort in establishing such a worthwhile organization deserves attention.”

This year’s HPRA scholarship recipients were:

· Rosio Borroel, Loyola Marymount University
· Maricela Estrada, California State University, Fullerton
· Susie Gonzalez, Cal State University, Fullerton
· Lorena Guadiana, University of California, Los Angeles
· Veronica Jarquin, California State University, Long Beach
· Nancy Noriega, California State University, Dominguez Hills
· Ileana Ortega, University of California, Santa Barbara
· Brenda Ortiz, California State University, Dominguez Hills
· Deanna Luz Plascencia, California State University, Fullerton
· Ashley Renee Ruiz, University of California, Santa Barbara

For more information at http://www.hprala.org