CATALINA Magazine Names Groundbreaking Latina of the Year Award Winners

NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CATALINA magazine and the National Association of Latina Leaders (NALL) today announce the 9th Annual CATALINA "Groundbreaking Latina" Award recipients.

Throughout the year, CATALINA receives hundreds of nominations from readers and website visitors for the "Groundbreaking Latina of the Year" awards through online entry forms on CatalinaMagazine.com. CATALINA's editorial staff and the NALL Latina advisory board chose the final winners, in four categories, based on their unique groundbreaking work in their field, industry, company, and/or community.

"These annual Groundbreaking Latina awards are a way for us to celebrate Hispanic women who are demonstrating groundbreaking leadership in our community and beyond," CATALINA publisher Cathy Areu said. "It's always such an honor for me to be able to recognize these amazing Latinas which make such a difference and pave the way for their fellow Latinas and for countless others."

Each winner will receive an HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam Edition laptop (value: $579.99); a designer Gevril watch (value: $1,495); and a beautiful, customized award recognizing the groundbreaker's accomplishment. All prizes are provided by CATALINA, in partnership with HP and Ultimate Crystal Awards (ultimatecrystalawards.com). Note: Some winners plan to donate their gifts to non-profits which serve the Latino community.

And the winners are:

Justice Sonia Sotomayor – Groundbreaking Latina of Year:

Most of the nominations for the category of Groundbreaking Latina of the Year, recognizing the most successful Latina in 2010, in the opinion of CATALINA readers and web site visitors, went to Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In fact, according to CATALINA's editorial team, the Justice garnered more votes than Latina actresses, singers, and congresswomen combined.

A true groundbreaker throughout her life, Justice Sotomayor joined the Supreme Court in 2009 as its 111th Justice, its first Hispanic justice and its third female justice. In 2010, she continued to show her dedication to the U.S. Hispanic community by attending events, including those in her hometown New York borough the Bronx, which give back to those in need.

Xiomara Sosa - Groundbreaking Latina Leader of the Year:

In 2010, Xiomara Sosa, the former president of the National Society for Hispanic Professionals (NSHP), founded The Get-Right! Organization, Inc. a nonprofit organization that empowers families, children and young adults to cultivate healthy lifestyles that promote positive mental health and physical health, teaching children how to effectively cope with mental health and physical health challenges and supporting mental health and physical health education initiatives and projects in all communities across America.

Prior to NSHP and Get-Right!, Sosa served on the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Media Campaign's Partnership Development Expert Panel, the Senate Republican Conference Task Force on Hispanic Affairs Advisory Committee, was a participant in the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse Treatment Month Planning Group, among other important Latino boards and associations.

For the third year in a row, Deloitte LLP - a leading professional services organizations, providing audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services through 45,000 people in more than 90 U.S. cities - sponsored the prestigious "Deloitte Groundbreaking Latina Leader of the Year" award – honoring and celebrating the exceptional work and leadership skills of a Latina community leader.

"Deloitte is proud to continue to sponsor this important award because it recognizes the achievements of a Latina who is making a difference in our communities," says Barbara Adachi, National Managing Principal for the Deloitte Women's Initiative.

Yamile Jackson, PhD – Groundbreaking Latina Entrepreneur of the Year award:

Yamile Jackson, PhD, of Houston, TX, is the owner of Zakeez, Inc. (www.Zakeez.com) – the maker of the Kangaroo Zak that provides Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) to preemies and other babies by providing safety and a hands-free and comfortable skin-to-skin holding of any newborn.

The engineer turned inventor turned entrepreneur founded Zakeez in 2001 by "using her own personal experience of having a premature baby that survived the deluge of Tropical Storm Allison which shut down all the life-support equipment of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Houston, Texas," her nomination form states.

"Dr. Jackson took a very scary, painful, and personal plight and evolved it into a groundbreaking device which saves and enhances baby's lives across the world," the nomination adds. Today, Jackson continues to give back to her community and beyond by donating over $20,000 in products to children's hospitals worldwide to help their sickest patients.

Groundbreaking Latina Blogger of the Year: Marisa Trevino

Marisa Trevino describes herself as a "dedicated Chicana, playwright, and citizen." The syndicated journalist and local public radio commentator's blog stays up to date with the latest information on news, entertainment, arts, family matters, education trends, and other social justice issues affecting the Hispanic community.

According to Maritza Puello, executive editor, NY1 Noticias and a member of CATALINA's Latina advisory board, "Although the competition was truly impressive, LatinaLista, Marisa's blog, has the most comprehensive information and interesting design of any of the blog nominations CATALINA received. It reads like someone has put a lot of thought and effort into this. This blog has a lot of Latina heart."

About CATALINA magazine:

In 2010, CATALINA is celebrating its 10th year anniversary! In 2001, CATALINA was created "for the mind, body, and soul of today's Latina," and has connected with millions of Latinas online, in print, and through national events ever since. The Groundbreaking Latina of the Year awards, created by CATALINA's founding publisher Cathy Areu, started in 2002. For more information, including yearlong giveaways celebrating the magazine's 10-year anniversary, visit http://www.CatalinaMagazine.com.

SOURCE CATALINA magazine