2009 Awards Dinner
Shining Lights: Outstanding Leaders for a Brighter Future for Hispanics
April 16, 2009, held in West Orange, NJ
Congratulations to our honorees!
Special Recognition Award for Leadership in the Advancement of Mental Health:
The Honorable Grace F. Napolitano
United States Congresswoman, 38th District, California
Co-Chair, Congressional Mental Health Caucus
Excellence in Federal Government Leadership Award:
Teresa Chapa, Ph.D., MPA
Senior Policy Advisor, Mental Health, United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health
Excellence in State Government Leadership Award:
Albert J. Alvarez, Esq.
Deputy Chief of Staff, New Jersey Governor’s Office
Excellence in State Legislative Leadership Award:
The Honorable Peter Rivera
Assemblyman, 76th Assembly District, New York
Chairman, Assembly Standing Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
Excellence in Hispanic Mental Health Advocacy and Leadership Award:
Maria Jose Carrasco, MPA
Director, NAMI National Multicultural Action Center
Excellence in Culturally Competent Mental Health Service Delivery:
Puerto Rican Family Institute
Excellence in Hispanic Media Production & Community Education:
Dialogo de Costa a Costa, HITN-TV
Excellence in Community Service and Humanitarian Award:
Andy Griffin
Managing Partner, Premium Color Group, LLC
Lifetime Achievement Award in the Advancement of Hispanic Mental Health:
Juan Ramos, Ph.D.
Retired, Former Senior Advisor to the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health
And thank you to our sponsors!
Premium Color Group, LLC
Goya Foods, Inc.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
Janssen, a division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals
Pfizer
Schering-Plough Corporation
Gala Background
The Shining Lights... Awards Dinner, an awards and fundraising gala of the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health, an outgrowth of the New Jersey Mental Health Institute’s award-winning and nationally and internationally recognized Changing Minds, Advancing Mental Health for Hispanics program. We respectfully request your support as we honor ten outstanding individual and organizational leaders who have demonstrated a genuine commitment to creating a brighter future for Hispanics, and continue our mission of ensuring an equitable and respectful mental health service delivery system for all Hispanics, including those with Limited English Proficiency.
Proceeds from the Shining Lights… Awards Dinner will benefit activities of the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health, which plays a key role in addressing the nationwide lack of availability of, access to and the provision of quality mental health services for Hispanics. The National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health specifically aims to reduce disparities and to increase treatment quality and availability of mental health services for Hispanics throughout the nation by implementing an array of strategies utilizing a four-prong approach:
- Developing culturally competent resources and tools.
- Developing and fostering the development of best practice programs.
- Delivering high-quality trainings on culturally competent mental health service delivery.
- Institutionalizing systems for access and eliminating disparities.
Additionally, the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health also aims to heighten awareness, acceptance and understanding of mental illness among the Hispanic population.
Project activities that proceeds will benefit include, but are not limited to:
- The center’s Hispanic Higher Education Scholarship Fund, a scholarship program targeted to bilingual and bicultural individuals interested in pursuing a Master in Social Work degree from a New Jersey-based university.
- The expansion and/or creation of bilingual public education campaigns targeted to Hispanics on various mental health topics, including treatment compliance, stigma, and available mental health services.
- The production of videos and other training materials to educate mental health organizational providers and individual direct service clinicians nationwide on best practices in providing quality and culturally and linguistically competent mental health services to Hispanics.
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