Gala de Oro
Celebrando el Éxito Latinx Awards
2022 Award Recipients
The Distinguished Éxito Latinx Award
Julio Cesar Ortiz
Julio is an outstanding community member of Sacramento that goes above and professionally and personally. He exemplifies an inspiration to those around him that want to grow and never complacent with success. He is also an inspiring family man and fun personality that breeds electrifying energy. It is a pleasure to nominate Julio and that you are doing an amazing job at your commitment to success.she has helped numerous of students with their career in graduate school programs, always helping where she can. Currently she is involved with NOPAL established in Stockton, CA where she helps empower Chicano/a/x youth to share stories and dismantle oppressive systems through community, culture, activism and education.
The Trailblazer Éxito Latinx Award
Anya Jael Woods
Anya Jael Woods has brought her community with her at every step of her achievements, of which she has many. She is currently a Project Manager for Sustainable Communities with SMUD, and is also the Chair of the Sacramento County’s Women & Girl’s Commission. When she was first hired at SMUD in their contact center, she was a single parent, working full time and pursuing a nursing degree. She completed her bachelor’s degree at Sac State, and went on to earn a Master’s degree from the McGeorge School of Law. She is also an alumnus of the Nehemiah Emerging Leadership Program. Anya is clearly a resilient and dedicated leader, but she is also someone who forges partnerships with the intention to uplift communities and really the region. She has returned to Sac State to speak with students and inspire developing leaders, and she is a trailblazer for Afro-Latinas and all who are Hechos en Sac State!
The Latinx Small Business Award
Norma Mendoza
Norma Mendoza started her business after planning her own wedding and realizing the need for bilingual wedding officiants in Sacramento. Norma will ensure that her client’s wedding ceremony truly reflects the couple’s love story. She is also very passionate about educating her online audience about marriage traditions, as well as collaborating and promoting others in her industry.
The Rising Éxito Latinx Award
Saray Aguirre
Saray Aguirre is a first-generation student from Watsonville, CA. She is currently the retention specialist for the CAMP program at Sacramento State. Saray is passionate about helping students achieve an education, especially those from farm working backgrounds like her own. She is dedicated to her profession, so much so that she is pursuing her Master’s degree in higher education leadership at Sac State to increase her knowledge base and skills to continue to serve students and the community. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Sac State in the fall of 2021, and she previously worked as a CAMP leader and student assistant for the Serna Center and EOP. Her diligence and work ethic is unmatched and she is already impacting higher education in so many ways. She is the embodiment of the Rising Exito Latinx Award and deserves to be recognized.
The Student Éxito Latinx Award
Stephanie Rivera Tran
She is a student from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Her pursuit for her degree is based on her experiences of being a parent of a neurodivergent child. At the receipt of interprofessional services team support for her daughter, she was inspired to join the 6% of Latinx Speech Language Pathologist to not only understand how best support and advocate for her child’s language and cognitive needs, but also for children and adults of the Latinx community. Despite being a non-traditional, first-generation college student, stay at home parent to 3 daughters who faced adversity like a devasting house fire, she graduated this May 2022, Summa Cum Laude, was the student commencement speaker for the College of Health and Human services and Dean’s Honor Award nominee for the CSAD department. Stephanie also volunteered at CSUS Cognitive-Communication Connection Research Lab as a student research assistant, CSUS NeuroService Alliance: Keeping it Loud and Clear and Vocally Devoted as a trained communication partner/student assistant, was the student assistant for the 2021 CSUS Pediatric Feeding Conference and was a book drive coordinator, collecting 1042 books for CSUS Dr. Celeste Roseberry’s book drive for at-risk children. Stephanie was also a CSUS National Student Speech Language Hearing Association board member, as the Appreciation for Diversity in CSAD Coordinator where she created safe and inclusive spaces for students to discuss important topics of diversity and intercultural sensitivity through peer lead presentations, while collaborating with the faculty advisor to implement strategies to fulfill syllabus learning objectives by facilitating analysis of content presented and to improve pre-professional communication skills, cultural competency and cultural humility. She will continue her work as CSUS as graduate student this Fall pursuing her master’s in Communication Sciences and Disorders.