Saturday, February 10, 2024
South San Francisco Conference Center
Thank you for joining us for CLF’s Annual Awards Celebration on Saturday, February 10, 2024! This year’s theme centers on the core of what the Chicana Latina Foundation strives to do, honor our stories. Join us as we celebrate those who have shined a light into our community by using their art to honor where we have been and where we can go.
Program

Legacy Award
Amalia Mesa-Bains
Amalia Mesa-Bains is an artist and cultural critic. Her artworks, primarily interpretations of traditional. Chicano altars, resonate both in contemporary formal terms and in their ties to her Chicano community and history. She has pioneered the documentation and understanding of Chicano traditions in Mexican- American art and is a leader in the field of community arts. Among her many awards is the distinction gushed Mac Arthur Fellowship. She is Professor Emerita in the Visual and Public Art department at California State University at Monterey Bay. She is Co-author with bell hooks of Homegrown: Engaged Cultural Criticism as well as many seminal essays on Latino Art.
Portrait of Amalia by Johanna Poethig
Dr. Olga Terrazas Trailblazer Award
Reyna Grande
Reyna Grande is the author of the bestselling memoirs, The Distance Between Us (Atria, 2012) and A Dream Called Home (Atria, 2018), where she writes about her life before and after she arrived in the United States from Mexico as an undocumented child immigrant. Born in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, Reyna was two years old when her father left for the U.S. to find work. Her mother followed her father north two years later, leaving Reyna and her siblings behind in Mexico. In 1985, when Reyna was nine, she left Iguala to make her own journey north.
Writing about immigration, family separation, language trauma, the price of the American Dream, and her writing journey, Reyna’s work has appeared in The New York Times, the Dallas Morning News, CNN, The Lily at The Washington Post, Buzzfeed, among others. In March 2020, she was a guest on Oprah’s Book Club television special. Reyna has received an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and the International Latino Book Award


Special Performance
¡Chicanísima!
¡Chicanísima! is a 25 – minute* opera by Carla Lucero, commissioned by Quinteto Latino. It chronicles the life and work of legendary Chicanx leader and LGBTQ+ activist, Olga Talamante. The opera explores her journey from working the garlic fields as a child in Gilroy, California, to her decades of activism in the US, Mexico and in Argentina, where she became a political prisoner. Ultimately, Olga frees herself from the psychological hold of her captors and releases her heart from 40 years of suppressing the memories of violence perpetrated against her. She finally finds peace, and in the process of healing, the love of her life, Vola.
Performers
Armando Castellano – French horn, hand drum
Diane Grubbe – Flute, Ocarina
Tiffanie Trujillo – Soprano
There will be a 10 minute preview at the event.*
Musical Guest
OmeDJ: Ome López
Since they began DJing in 1999 Omedj has become known for their infectious energetic stage presence & an eclectic pallet in song selections. Ome has performed and emceed in front of audiences awaiting Grammy-winning artists such as La Santa Cecilia and Little Joe y La Familia to other acclaimed acts like Ty Dolla $ign, Saul Williams, Chicano Batman, Las Cafeteras & Climbing Poetree. In addition to their DJ duties, Ome Quetzal Lopez is also the co-founder of Dulce UpFront, an award-winning multi-media art-activist organization, having produced over one hundred events capturing the attention of thousands of people. In 2018, Ome was awarded Inspirational Queer Activist by Queer Out and highlighted by Rise Up, alongside Alicia Garza & Bambadjan Bamba, as part of the next generation of activists in California who are actively creating and inspiring change on a local and global level. In 2020, Ome was awarded City of Fresno District One Woman of the Year in Arts & Culture.

2023 Leadership & Scholarship Awardees
Abigail Hernandez Francisco
San Jose State University Criminology
Adela Equihua-Sánchez
UC Santa Cruz
Cognitive Science
Alina Zarate
UC Berkeley
Environmental Sciences & Interdisciplinary Studies
Anna Diaz
UC Berkeley
Legal Studies
Anna Lee Sanchez
UC Berkeley
Sociology
Brianna Ochoa Zavalza
UC Davis
Psychology
Claudia Muralles
Sonoma State University
Environmental Sciences, Geography, and Management
Daniela Zopiyatle
San Jose State University
MA in Business Administration
Danielle Castillo
San Jose State University
Child and Adolescent Development
Deandra Han Garcia
UC Berkeley
Psychology
Diana Lopez Rosillo
Sonoma State University
Business Accounting
Elena Suarez
CSU East Bay
Kinesiology
Elizabeth Castro
San Francisco State University
Early Child and Adolescent Development
Elizabeth Meza Rosas
Santa Clara University
Economics
Emily Gonzalez
Contra Costa College
Chemistry
Emma Fernandez
Woodland Community College
Physical Assistant
Itzarely Godinez
CSU Monterey Bay
Molecular Biology
Janeth Ochoa Birrueta
San Francisco State University
Biomedical Science
Jocelyn Velazquez
UC San Diego
Economics
Maria Estrada
UC Berkeley
Mechanical Engineering
Maria Munoz Yepez
Santa Clara University
MA in Spanish
Maribel Anguiano
UC Davis
Neuroscience
Maribel Sanchez
San Jose State University
Counseling and Guidance
Maricruz Marquez Alvarado
CSU Monterey Bay
Collaborative Health and Human Services
Marissa Sandoval
UC Davis
MA in Population Biology
Marta Duarte Ruiz
San Francisco State University
Communication Studies
Miriam Trigo
Stanford University
Materials Science and Engineering
Natalie Fierro
UC Berkeley
Legal Studies
Naxely Belmont
UC Los Angeles
History
Norma Guerrero
University of San Francisco
MA in Nonprofit Administration
Paloma Quiroz
Santa Rosa Junior College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Paola Argueta
UC Santa Cruz
Sociology
Patricia Corona
University of Southern California
Marriage and Family Therapy
Perla Gomez Olguin
San Francisco State University
Biology
Priscilla Amao
CSU Monterey Bay
MA in Social Work
Rubi Gonzales
UC Berkeley
Jurisprudence & Social Policy Ph.D
Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca
Santa Clara University
Sociology & Ethnic Studies
Sofia Portillo
Stanford University
Community Health and Prevention Research
Sonia Lizama
Midwives College of Utah
Midwifery
Stephanie Tena-Meza
Stanford University
Science, Technology and Society
Tatiana Torres
UC Berkeley
Political Science
Xenia Giolli
San Francisco State University
Dietetics & Nutrition and Latino/a Studies
Yadira Guerrero
San Jose State University
Public Health
Yanelli Flores
UC Berkeley
Sociology
Yanet Gutierrez
Law