CafeMom's MamasLatinas honors the inspiring accomplishments of Latina moms with $5,000 grants and other prizes

NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today MamasLatinas, the first bilingual website to super-serve Hispanic mothers living in the United States, celebrated the first annual MamasLatinas Awards. The award ceremony honored and recognized seven Latina moms who embody the hard work and commitment of Latina moms across the country, who have gone above and beyond to advance their lives, the lives of their children and families, schools, neighborhoods, or their communities. As recognition for their achievements, each of the seven winners was awarded $5,000 and other prizes to continue to grow their initiatives.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121017/NY95327)

The first annual MamasLatinas Awards culminated at the end of Hispanic Heritage month, with an awards ceremony held at the Grand Hyatt New York and hosted by the Cuban-American ALMA and EMMY award-winning actress, Maria Canals-Barrera.

"So many moms and their stories do not receive the recognition they deserve and MamasLatinas is proud to provide the first platform to recognize the outstanding achievements of Latina moms across the country," said MamasLatinas Co-Founder and Executive Vice President Lucia Ballas-Traynor. "Latina moms are driving our nation's population growth and raising America's next generation. The MamasLatinas Awards gives a voice to the issues Latina moms face and empowers all Latina moms to continue their positive actions for their community, themselves, and their families."

Additionally at the event, the MamasLatinas team presented important highlights from their survey of 1,000 Hispanic moms in the U.S. The study uncovered tremendous insights on what defines and differentiates Hispanic moms.

"The Latina Mom is trying to do it all, balancing her pursuit of the American Dream with the traditions and cultures she grew up with and is unwilling to give up. The stories of our winners echo this theme, and reveal that today's Latina Mom is different from general market women," said Ballas-Traynor. "Understanding Latina moms is of utmost importance in the changing market and drives everything we and our partners do."

The winners of the 2012 MamasLatinas Awards are:

• Vashti Acosta is the Head of School at Amber Charter School, in East Harlem, NYC. With her leadership, the school has outperformed local, community, and state standards- raising Amber Charter School from F to A in just one year.
• DawnDiaz, a Paramedic Captain in the NYC Fire Department, is the founder and director of the non-profit Milagros Day Worldwide, which provides coaching to survivors of domestic violence and those who have grown up in abusive relationships. 
• Violeta Galagarza, a professional dancer, has offered free dance classes and support programs in her community for more than 20 years, rehabilitating troubled youth.
• Patricia Gracia founded an advertising powerhouse from her kitchen and established the Power Woman Business Center, a business incubator to help women do more business and create more jobs.
• Margaret Grover-Roos is the founder of Viva el Espanol, a Spanish-Language and Culture Center, providing jobs for more than 60 Latina moms in more than 30 locations in the Bay Area.  
• Sherise Martinez, a substance-abuse therapist who at just 28 years old is working to create a drop-in center for at-risk teen girls to find a haven of support.
• Eliana Tardio Hurtado is a mother of two children with Down syndrome. She has become the voice of Latino parents with special needs children and is the Family Resource Specialist at the Health Planning Council of Southwest Florida.

See the winners' stories on video here: http://bit.ly/MLAwards.

Learn more about our winners on MamasLatinas.com, http://articles.mamaslatinas.com/inspiration/106963/mam_slatinas_award_winners_symbols.

About MamasLatinas:
Launched in January 2012, MamasLatinas.com is already the leading bilingual online destination for Latina moms reaching more than 600K monthly unique visitors. MamasLatinas is dedicated to understanding, connecting, entertaining and empowering Hispanic moms by super-serving their culturally unique interests and needs with dynamic community and engaging editorial content.

About CafeMom:
CafeMom is the leading media company for moms, reaching an audience of more than 20MM across our properties (comScore, Aug. 2012), which include CafeMom.com, MamasLatinas.com, CafeMom Studios, and the CafeMom Plus Network. CafeMom is the leader in developing custom programs for top brands, making it the premier strategic marketing partner to brands that want to reach moms in a rapidly changing digital environment. CafeMom lead investors are Highland Capital Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The company was founded by Andrew Shue and Michael Sanchez.

SOURCE CafeMom