La Familia de Broward Una herramienta útil para las necesidades de las familias hispanas
Juliette Ashley Valle, born the year that the Hispanic Women of Distinction charity luncheon started is named the first annual UP & COMER honoree at the 20th annual Hispanic Women of Distinction Charity luncheon to be held on Friday, September 10th at Signature Grand in Davie, Florida. An expected sell-out of up to 1000 is anticipated with 600 already confirmed.
This milestone of two decades will take a look back at all the past Hispanic Women of Distinction since its founding in 2001 as well as naming the Up & Comer, the twelve 2021 Hispanic Women of Distinction and the Latina Pioneer of the Year.
Juliette is currently a sophomore honors student at the University of Miami to bring awareness to organ donation thus inspiring her to create a platform, “Life is Awesome, Pass it On.” Growing up in a family in Plantation where her father, a native of Peru, is a nephrologist and her mother a transplant nurse, she learned there are 108,000 people waiting on a list for a transplant. As a result, she is in the process of creating her own web show, “The Silver Lining with Juliette Valle,” where she will speak one on one with patients and donors.
Juliette with a minor in music, began performing at the age of 10, winning numerous classical vocal competitions, including being a semi-finalist twice for the New York Lyric Opera Competition. At a young age, she has performed in some of the state’s most prestigious theaters and recently awarded a major at the Frost School of Music. She was offered to join the Florida Grand Opera Teen Program where she was appointed as Social Director. Juliette recently released a first single from a holiday album, “Winter Wonderland,” that she plans to release in November 2021 with 100% of the proceeds to go to “Donate Life America” where she is a brand ambassador. The album contains familiar Christmas holiday classics and operatic arias and her single is available for download on iTunes and Spotify.
Juliette, talented and naturally beautiful inside and out, is a candidate for the title, Miss Florida in June as the present local title-holder as Miss South Florida Fair. The Miss America Organization, based in Lakeland, Florida empowers young women through education and service and provides scholarships to further their passion for causes on a national level. She also held titles as Miss Broward County Outstanding Teen and Miss Fort Lauderdale Outstanding Teen.
When asked to cite a role model, Juliette wrote that Judge Sonia Sotomayor is the first Latina appointed to the Supreme Court, in spite of her life growing up with low-income immigrant parents remained humble, hard-working and committed to serve American citizens. As a college student, Juliette is adjusting to adulthood and learning how she can make an impact with her talent, journalistic pursuits, and her charity work.
Founded in 2001 by the late Erwin M. Vasquez, M.D. a Venezuelan-born cardiologist, philanthropist and publisher of the pioneer Spanish newspaper, El Heraldo de Broward, the goal was to help to empower Latinas and to recognize the influence they have in the South Florida community. Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen these powerful women’s share of the nation’s population grow and that is expected to increase to 25.7% by the year 2050! As this recognition grows, we see how our former honorees have encouraged many others to follow their dreams of success. The accomplishments of these women stand on their own and are even more significant given the traditional roadblocks that exist for women, especially Latinas.
Presented by Latina Style Magazine, the nation’s leader in Hispanic women business in partnership with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, a host of other corporate and media partners, the celebration will include a number of pre-event activities including a Hispanic Women Summit, at the annual reunion reception of honorees “DOS CULTURAS”, a commemorative booklet and video of former honorees, and sponsor related public events to celebrate their leadership, vision and achievements.
This year, we are proud to announce our charity, HANDY, an award-winning 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Founded in 1985, HANDY has met the needs of more than 50,000 Broward County children in foster and relative/nonrelative care associated with the child dependency system HANDY’s mission is to achieve positive, lasting change for youth by providing life skills, education, and a supportive community.
We are proud to announce the 2021 Hispanic Women of Distinction and the Latina Pioneer of the Year. With more than 50 nominations, the judges agreed that each woman nominated was deserving of any recognition, however, those selected this year represent the community, culture and charitable component of the competition that played a major role in their decision.
2021 Honorees:MELIDA AKITI, VP Ambulatory & Community Service, Memorial Healthcare Systems (Broward)YINETH SANCHEZ ASLAN – GEICO Staff Counsel, Law offices of George L. Cimballa, III (Broward)MARIA S. ANTUNA – CEO Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County – (Palm Beach)ERBI BLANCO-TRUE – Community Development Manager, IBERIABANK, First Horizon Bank (Miami)THAYRA “Tye” HAUSHEER – Volunteer Community Leader AARP Florida (Miami)HEIDI ALZATE KAUFMAN – Founder/President Heidi Alzate Consuting (Broward)JACQUELINE LOPEZ-DEVINE – Chief Clinical Officer/Chief Nursing Officer, Trustbridge ( Palm Beach)JESSICA MARRA – Attorney, Law Firm of Kelley Kronenberg – (Broward)JAENE MIRANDA – Pres/CEO Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County (Palm Beach)LUBBY NAVARRO – School Board Member Miami-Dade County/Director of Government Affairs Memorial Healthcare Systems (Miami)KIMBERLY VALENTIN – Hospice Liasion Amedisys Hospice (Broward)CAROLINA VEIRA – Dir. Community & Corporate Partnerships IMC Health (Miami)2021 LATINA PIONEER of the YEAR awarded to:OMAIDA C. VELAZQUEZ, M.D. Professor/Chair Department of Surgery for University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Velazquez is one of only 2 Latinas as Chief of Surgery in the United States.JOIN US on September 10th to honor these fantastic women! Tickets $95 per person, table sponsorship $1500.For more information, sponsorship opportunities and updates visit www.hispanicwomenofdistinction.com or on Facebook.
