Community AwardsHonoring outstanding community members, many of them unsung heroes, who have impacted Centro and the greater Latino community in DANE COUNTY, WI.
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The Marcus S. Miles Volunteer Award is given in honor of community photographer Marcus S. Miles to a volunteer who significantly helped to advance Centro's goals and mission through their talents and expertise. |
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The Mario Garcia Sierra Young Dreamer Award is given to a young Latinx who has completed their education and reached their goals and dreams, while contributing significantly to the community and serving as an example to others.
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The Centro Visionary Award is given to a person who consistently strives for Centro's greater vision of a thriving Latino community in Dane County, WI and who is deeply committed to the agency's role in helping to advance this vision across multiple sectors. |
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Marcus S. Miles Volunteer Award
Elena Jimenez-Quiroz, Community Impact Coordinator at United Way of Dane County. Elena recently retired from her position as Community Impact Coordinator at United Way of Dane County. In addition to her work at United Way, Elena has been a tireless advocate and volunteer in the community. Every year, Elena coordinates Days of Caring at Centro as well as helps with the Tres Reyes Celebration. |
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Mario Garcia Sierra Young Dreamer Award
Yesenia Villalpando-Torres, Social Worker and Community Activist. Yesenia graduated in 2017 from Edgewood College with a Bachelors in Sociology and is now a Certified Social Worker, supporting our youth in the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) and immigrant families across Dane County. While at school, she was an Honors student who made the Dean's List. She has continued to be an activist and engaged member of the community throughout her education, believing in the power of grassroots organizing for advocacy and change. |
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Centro Visionary Award
Gary Wolter, Former Chairman, President and CEO of MGE. Gary has been dedicated to service and philanthropic leadership since he first moved to Madison in 1984. For 17 years, he served as president and CEO of Madison Gas & Electric, a consistent supporter of Centro Hispano. His commitment to community betterment initiatives has included a long support of Centro Hispano, Madison Community Foundation, Meriter Hospital, and United Way of Dane County. |
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Ilda C. Thomas Award
Gilma Arenas, Juventud Youth Program Coordinator for Sherman Middle School. Gilma Arenas has been deeply involved with Latino youth and families for over more than 40 years. She also spent more than a decade at Centro, as a Juventud Youth Program Coordinator at Sherman Middle School. |
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Marcus S. Miles Volunteer Award
Rosemary U’Ren, Human Resources Advisor Director at American Family Insurance, and founding chair of the Beca (Scholarship) Committee at Centro. Under her leadership the committee has awarded over $50,000 in scholarships to Latino youth over the past 3 years. |
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Roberto G. Sanchez Award
Silvia Gomez de Soriano, Resource specialist at Madison Metropolitan School District. Silvia has been dedicated to advancing the dreams of Latino students in Dane County. |
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Mario Garcia Sierra Young Dreamer Award
Julissa Ventura, Ph.D. in education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ventura recently completed her Ph.D. while serving as a mentor to youth in the [Re]Generacion Program at Centro, and substantially contributing to youth development in the city of Madison. |
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Centro Visionary Award
Alder Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, Chief Diversity Officer at UW Health, and an Alder for District 5. Shiva's dedication to Centro’s mission, and work at leveraging support for the agency as well as for the Latino and immigrant community has been invaluable. |
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Ilda C. Thomas Award
Sergio González, Doctoral candidate in the Department of History at the UW-Madison and the author of the recently published book: Mexicans in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, October 2017. “Sergio is so thoughtful. He has done so much important work behind the scenes to ground so many efforts and we feel he is the perfect fit to receive this award named after our founder" Throughout the last decade he has been lecturing about the history of Latinos in Wisconsin as well as the historical roots of many issues now in the news. He says that nothing that is happening today is at all new. |
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Roberto G. Sanchez Award
Armando Ibarra, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin Extension’s School for Workers. Since January of 2011, Armando has been an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Extension’s School for Workers, the oldest labor education program in the country. Armando was recruited to come to Madison from the University of California-Irvine, where he earned his Ph.D. in political science. Armando also holds a Master’s in public administration and a Bachelor’s in Sociology and Spanish. His research focuses on Chicano/a Latino/a working communities, adult education on issues of diversity in the workplace, international labor migration, leadership development, organized workplaces, and applied research. |
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Ilda C. Thomas Award
Diego Campoverde-Cisneros, Senior Communications, PR and Marketing Coordinator at Unity Health Insurance. Honoring his efforts to ensure a strong Latino voice in the community. |
