January 27, 2023 @ 5:30PM — 9:00PM

South San Francisco Conference Center

Thank you for joining us for CLF’s Annual Awards Celebration on January 27, 2023. CLF celebrated its 45th anniversary of cultivating future Chicana Latina leaders. We loved seeing our community breaking bread together, building community, recognizing leaders who have left an indelible civil rights mark and future leaders who embrace their narrative (culture, language, history, sexuality, etc.). Mostly, we have been in the movement towards educational equity together since 1977 and we continue unabashedly forging ahead fulfilling aspirations, one student at a time. Indeed, it is through hope and love that we are revolutionary. 

Keep scrolling to read about our honorees, special guests, and watch the show!

Honorees

Ortensia Lopez

Legacy Award

Ortensia is a nationally recognized leader in creating coalitions, collaboratives and partnerships, which have resulted in innovative initiatives that have empowered and ensured participation for low-income communities. She has been working in the Non-Profit sector for over forty-one years in executive management positions serving as a change agent for disenfranchised communities.

Ortensia is the second of 11 children born to parents from Mexico and the first to graduate from college. She received two Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology & Chicano Studies from Los Angeles State University and obtained her Master’s Degree in Urban/Social Planning from the University of Southern California. She also is a graduate from the Institute for Executives of Nonprofits from Springfield University in Massachusetts. She currently serves on California Public Utilities Commission Low-Income Oversight Board. Co-Chairperson and founding member of Greenlining Institute, Chicana Latina Foundation Board, Director of Comerica Advisory Board, California Community Builders, Solar Oversight, Community Housing Opportunities Corporation and CHOC Ventures and PG&E Community Renewables Program Advisory Group. Read more about her awards and community recognition!

Senderos

Dr. Olga Terraza’s Trailblazer Award

Senderos was created in 2001 when sisters Fe Silva-Robles and Dr. Nereida Robles Vásquez, indigenous Oaxaqueñas, were working for Santa Cruz City Schools. They had come to Santa Cruz as adult immigrants not speaking English, so they understood the needs and challenges of families who come from Mexico or Central America seeking a better life for their children.

They wanted to create a positive cultural anchor for Mexican immigrant youth to build confidence and find pride and connection to their family heritage in the face of racism and pressure for gang involvement and substance abuse. In 2005 they presented the first Vive Oaxaca Guelaguetza, an indigenous cultural festival, which has grown to the largest Guelaguetza in Northern California attracting an audience of 4500 from all over the Central Coast, Bay Area, and beyond.  In 2010 the Latino Role Models (LRM) conference was created – a free event presented in Spanish to inspire 500 students and their families to achieve their dreams for college and career. Now co-presented with Cabrillo College and K-12 County school districts, the conference features professional and college student presentations, and keynote speakers such as labor and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, author Reyna Grande, astronaut Jose M. Hernandez. Read more about Dr. Nereida Robles Vasquez, 2010 CLF Alumnae and Fe Silva Robles.

Mariachi Bonitas de Dinorah Klinger

Musical Performance

Established in 2020, Mariachi Bonitas de Dinorah Klingler is an all-female Mariachi that was created to share the captivating art of Mariachi music in the Sacramento, Davis, Stockton, Modesto, Bay (Northern California) area. Under the direction of our multi-award winning singer, songwriter and musician, Dinorah Klingler, Mariachi Bonitas was started to create a space for female Mariachi musicians to voice their love for Mariachi. 
 
In the musical environment where songs are mainly sung by men, these ladies demonstrate great passion and devotion for Mariachi while at the same time creating history along the way. With their musical excellence, Mariachi Bonitas is ready and thrilled to warm your hearts with their passion for Mariachi music! Watch them!

Angela Davis

Special Guest

Through her activism and scholarship over many decades, Angela Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world.  Her work as an educator – both at the university level and in the larger public sphere – has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice. We are deeply honored to have our hermana Angela joining us.

Gisselle Alvarez

Student Speaker

Gisselle Alvarez, is currently completing their Master’s in Education with a Secondary Social Sciences Teaching Credential at UC Berkeley. They see the classroom as a space and place, a starting point, for people to build empathy, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of our lived experiences. As they put it, “I am going to work tirelessly to create a space where students are not only seen and heard but loved and cared for in all of their identities and stories.”

Grecia Lopez Perez

Student Speaker

Grecia Lopez Perez from San Jose, CA. She was born in the state of Morelos, Mexico – in a small city, Cuautla. Grecia’s academic journey was not an easy and linear path. Today, she is currently part of the Nursing Program at  Solano Community College. Grecia hopes to one day practice medicine as a nurse practitioner and to be involved in politics to help make an impact for the immigrant community when it comes to healthcare. Grecia Lopez is awarded the Ana Patricia Martínez Huchim (Hear my voice) scholarship

2022 Leadership and Scholarship Awardees:

Watch the Celebration

Meet the Cohort

Check out the Crowd

Latest Newsletter

• Empowering the Next Generation – Join Us on January 27th! 
• December News – Reflections and 2023 Goals for CLF!
• Celebrate With Us!
• November News – Honoring Our Legacies
• 45 Years – Roots of Leadership & Hope Fulfilled
• October News – What Makes A Good Leader?