Maria Contreras-Sweet to Be Honored at 6th Annual Latino Spirit Awards

“The California Latino Legislative Caucus, in conjunction with Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature, will be honoring Maria Contreras-Sweet at the 6th Annual Latino Spirit Awards ceremony at the California State Capitol in Sacramento on Monday, May 7, 2007. Governor Schwarzenegger, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Senate Pro Tem Don Perata, and Assembly member Joe Coto, Chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus will serve as co-hosts of the event.

Contreras-Sweet is the former Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing for the State of California and is the Founder and Chairwoman of Los Angeles’ newest bank and the first Latino-owned bank in Los Angeles in 30 years. Promerica is a full service commercial bank which specializes in serving the small business community with a focus on Hispanic entrepreneurs.

Contreras-Sweet was selected for the award due to her pioneering work in the State of California and for her many achievements in government, business and community which have established her as a role model for Latinos/as. She will be sharing company with other prominent honorees this year: Edward James Olmos, Victor Villasenor, The Molina Family, Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, Raul Vargas, Supervisor Gloria Molina and Congressman Esteban E. Torres.

Past honorees include: Carlos Santana, Grammy Award-winning recording artist; Oscar de La Hoya, world boxing champion; Andy Garcia, Academy Award-nominated actor; and Rita Moreno, Oscar winning actress.

“It is truly a privilege and very humbling to be recognized by the Latino Legislative Caucus and to be included in the ranks of such important contributors to our culture,” said Contreras-Sweet. “California is a pace-setting state. One in three is of Hispanic descent. One in every two new businesses is Hispanic owned. In order to energize our economy, we have to lift the entire population. Access to capital is essential for our future prosperity and economic well-being. My hope is that our efforts at Promerica Bank will serve to expand opportunities, create jobs and build family wealth.

About Maria Contreras-Sweet

Maria Contreras-Sweet is Founder and Chairwoman of Promerica Bank, which is dedicated to building family wealth through a business consultancy model. She is also the President and Co-Founder of FORTIUS Holdings, LLC. a private equity and venture fund specializing in providing California’s small businesses with quicker access to capital.

Prior to founding FORTIUS, Contreras-Sweet was the first Latina to serve on a Governor’s cabinet as the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing for the State of California, where she managed 42,000 employees and was responsible for a $14 billion budget. Under her aegis were 14 departments, including the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the Highway Patrol (CHP) and the banking and real estate departments, to name a few. Part of Contreras-Sweet’s legacy is the creation of the new Department of Managed Health Care which regulates HMOs and the passage of the largest housing bond, Prop. 46.

Prior to her position as Secretary, Contreras-Sweet served as one of the founding directors of The California Endowment and is the founding President of HOPE (Hispanics Organized for Political Equality). Contreras-Sweet serves as a member of the board of the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital and on the Women’s Leadership Board at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

About Promerica Bank”

• Hispanic Entrepreneur profile: Entrepreneurship began early for Gándara family – El Paso
• At-risk Hispanic students get a hand up in after-school program at Bonnabel – Louisiana
• Mexican doctors pointed to parents as the reason Mexico leads the world in child obesity, a problem made worse in this country by the lack of sports training.
• “They” Are “Us”: The Devastating Effects of Broken Immigration Policy on Children in Immigrant Families
• Angel Reyes Interview About Child Safety In Cars On Good Morning Texas
• Interview with Children’s Author Lucia Gonzalez – Gonzalez’s latest children’s book, The Storyteller’s Candle, is dedicated to Pura Belpre
• USDA data shows more Latino children going hungry
• There are 16 million children in immigrant families in the United States
• Hispanics are 9% of the Virginia’s schoolchildren, but 5% of gifted students.
• New Report: More Than 2 Million Hispanic Households With Children Face Hunger – Hispanic households with children experiencing very low food security up almost 50%
• AT&T Announces Campaign to Support PADRES Contra El Cancer in Fight Against Childhood Disease
• The purchasing power of Hispanics is growing at a rate nearly 3 times as fast as that of the general population in Arizona and nationwide, said an Arizona State University business expert who has studied the market for 14 years.
• Latino population growth adds to House seats – 6 states expected to gain congressional slots due to surge in Hispanic numbers
• Experts warned on Tuesday that the rise in health problems due to obesity among Mexican children, which is considered to be an epidemic, threatens “for the first time” to reduce life expectancy rates in the country.
• Trend Toward Smaller Families in Latin America – The number of people per household in Latin America will fall by 18 percent by 2020, according to a study released in this capital Tuesday by consulting firm Euromonitor International.
• Young Latino Children Throughout Los Angeles County to Benefit from IBM Donation of Educational Computer Learning Centers
• Latinos make up a combined 77% of the population growth in the eleven states projected to lose a House seat – would have fared worse had Latinos not moved there in record numbers
• After the 2010 Census, new Members of Congress in states like Georgia and South Carolina as well as Arizona and Texas will owe their positions, in part, to the expanding Latino population.
• Interview with award-winning children’s author Lucia Gonzalez
• Lunes Libro for los Chicos Edition : Al Galope