7th Annual HABLA Celebrates Community Leadership and Service

ATLANTA, Oct. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the 7th annual Hispanic Achievement and Business Leadership Awards (HABLA), which is presented by COUNTRY Financial and produced by Lanza Group, LLC. HABLA will honor five Atlanta leaders including an up-and-coming student leader for their achievements and accomplishments made in business, the community, or education field.

"The 7^th HABLA celebrates a wide range of Atlanta's talent, from a CEO to a high school valedictorian to an alcohol prevention coordinator to a nuclear financial manager to a business development director," says Ralph E. Herrera, Lanza Group President. "We are proud to recognize our incredible honorees and award a $5,000 scholarship to a deserving student."

The 2014 HABLA Honorees include:

• Corporate Executive: Marlem Rios, Georgia Power Company
• Civic/Government: Myrna Garcia-Clemmons, INROADS
• Entrepreneur: Rene M. Diaz, Diaz Foods
• Unsung Hero: Montse Mota, CETPA
• Scholarship: Michelle Gutierrez, Towers High School

The HABLA awards are given based on nominations made by peers and members of the Atlanta business and civic communities. The awards luncheon will highlight each honoree and will feature a keynote speaker, William Segura, from Emory University. In addition to recognizing Hispanic professionals and community leaders, the event is an opportunity for budding Hispanic students to be acknowledged for their contributions as they evolve into tomorrow's leaders. Since the inception of the HABLA Awards scholarship, over $40,000 has been awarded to deserving high school or freshman college students. This year, the HABLA COUNTRY Financial scholarship will be awarded to high school senior, Michelle Gutierrez in the amount of $5,000.

"At COUNTRY Financial, we are not only committed to educating communities about financial literacy but also supporting the educational dreams of students, who will become the future of our country," says Michael E. Fisher, Agency Field Executive for Market Development at COUNTRY Financial. "We are proud to partner with Lanza Group and the HABLA Awards as this collaboration is another step towards this goal."

HABLA, the leading business-to-business Hispanic-focused networking event in Atlanta, will take place today at 11:30am at 103 West in Buckhead. For additional information on the HABLA Awards, please visit HABLAawards.com and "Like" HABLA Awards on Facebook and "Follow" on Twitter.

About Lanza Group: 
Lanza Group, LLC is an Atlanta-based Hispanic marketing, PR and events firm that provides bi-cultural marketing solutions; connecting marketers to Hispanics throughout the United States. For more information, please call 404.350.0200 or visit LanzaGroup.com.

SOURCE Lanza Group