We are thrilled to report the resounding success of our flagship event, La Gala. It served as an extraordinary celebration of Hispanic culture and heritage, made possible by your active participation and unwavering enthusiasm. Your support enabled us to not only raise awareness but also crucial funds to further our programs and initiatives. La Gala truly exemplified the power of community coming together for a common cause: serving the Hispanic/Latine population across Durham, Wake, Orange, and neighboring counties.

During the celebration, El Centro Hispano presented four awards recognizing the trailblazing efforts of the following leaders:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints received the Gilbertson-Clark Visionary Award is our top honor named after our founders. This award is presented to a community collaborator for demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to strengthening the Latino community. We would like to honor your commitment and leadership in supporting and helping El Centro Hispano in fulfilling our mission

NC Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation was presented with the President’s Award is presented to a benefactor whose commitment goes above and beyond financial support. We would like to honor your commitment and leadership for supporting our organization in achieving our goal to build Equity through improving the health and education of our Hispanic/Latino/Latinx community.

Cristina España President’s – President’s – Advocate of the Year Award presented by El Centro Hispano, recognizes an exemplary individual or organization that has demonstrated unwavering dedication to promoting equity and inclusion. This prestigious honor celebrates the tireless efforts and inspiring contributions made by the recipient in championing the cause of Hispanic/Latinx communities and fostering a more inclusive North Carolina

Carlos Rubio The Volunteer of the year Award recognizes the efforts of an individual that has exceeded our expectations in regard to time and contribution of a program and/or the organization as a whole.

El Centro Hispano also recognized Yazmin Garcia Rico who served for three years as the Director of Latinx/Hispanic Policy & Strategy for the NC Department of Health and Human Services and now is undertaking the Direction of Community Engagement and Impact for the Cone Health Foundation. We honored Yazmin for her outstanding work in promoting and implementing programs and services to support the community in general, but especially for our Hispanic/Latina/Latinx community in North Carolina.

In addition to the recognitions, 2 scholarships were given to outstanding Youth Leaders in Action participants:

1.- Ed Blount’s Scholarship Fund awardee: Priscila Eustaquio Olaverria, 18 Years old, who will be joining the Phisician Assistant Program at Wake Tech.
2.-Maria and Urbano Ehuan scholarship awardee: Yari Leyva Sabalza, 19 years old, who will be joining the Accounting/Business at University Of North Carolina Greensboro.

The Ed Blount Scholarship Fund supports, since 2018, a high school senior YLA member starting college education and residing in North Carolina. This scholarship provides a one-time $1,000 Us dollars stipend.

The Maria and Urbano Ehuan Scholarship Fund since 2023, supports high school seniors or undergraduate college students residing in North Carolina and enrolled in a North Carolina college, community college or university.

Applicants are also active members in the Young Leaders in Action program and actively involved in community engagement with El Centro Hispano.

The scholarship provides a one-time $1,000 US dollars’ stipend to one student per year. In addition, this year, the Maria and Urbano Ehuan Scholarship fund contributed to Univision 40’s scholarship program Liga de Campeones, for Hispanic students, by complementing their 6 awardees with an additional $500 dollars of support per student.

During the night we have the motivating and unifying words of Consul General of Guatemala, Jorga Archila and Durham’s Mayor, Leonardo Williams as well as the testimonies of the director of Henderson Fuerza Activa, Antelmo Salazar.