Armando Valdez is the Founder and Executive Director of the Community Center for Arts and Technology (CCAT) in Fresno, CA. For decades, Armando has been advocating and serving families from across the Fresno county. He grew up in the Lowell Neighborhood of central Fresno, an area known for its poverty and high crime rates. But Armando saw much more than that. He saw and knew dedicated families and aspiring and brilliant young people who simply needed an opportunity to pursue their highest potential. After receiving a degree in Telecommunication from CSU Long Beach, and working as a news producer for over 30 years with Univision, he returned to Fresno with a vision of opening doors for young people and providing them with the skills, resources, and love-filled environment to foster their growth and fuel their dreams. It all began with television production and news reporting in the backyard of his parents home. Today, CCAT is a hub for young people and their families to learn about photography, videography, podcast recordings, sound engineering, drone building and coding, graphic design, custom printing, and art. It is a place where youth can come to be reminded that their lives and their dreams matter. Since starting CCAT, Armando has seen young people return as accomplished adults living out their dreams as Emmy-award winning journalists and producers.

During the COVID19 pandemic, Armando was also the first person to pack up his car with food boxes and drive to the most remote parts of Fresno to ensure farmworkers and their families had their basic needs cared for as the state began to shut down. He distributed PPE and financial support for housing in the days and months that followed. Armando has not stopped working to serve, advocate, and love the families of Fresno, CA.

Armando is our 2021 Leading Change Awardee.

Adriana Diaz is a CBS News National Correspondent and anchor of the Saturday edition of the “CBS Weekend News.” She embodies the hope of a rising generation of civic leaders committed to guarding our democracy by sharing facts, serving with integrity and moral clarity, and lifting up the issues that matter most to communities of color. From COVID19 to its economic fallout and nationwide vaccine efforts, Adriana has amplified the stories of the families most impacted by the pandemic with love, compassion, and dignity.

Adriana has also lifted up the stories related to gun violence, youth-led movements for social change, the racial reckoning of our generation. She is part of the CBS News team that won an Emmy for “39 Days,” a primetime documentary about the Parkland student movement. Adriana was previously CBS News’ Asia correspondent based in Beijing, where she used her Mandarin skills to report from China on U.S.-Chinese relations, Chinese politics, science, and culture.

She has covered Pope Francis’ visits to Brazil in 2013, Israel and Palestine in 2014, Cuba in 2015, and Mexico in 2016. She was part of the first team dispatched to Havana for the normalization of relations with the U.S. in December 2014.

A Princeton University alum, she went on to earn a master’s degree in public affairs and public administration at Columbia University and France’s Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. A New York City native, Adriana’s family is from the Dominican Republic.

Adriana is our 2021 Nuestro Orgullo Awardee.

Chef José Andrés is an internationally-recognized humanitarian, Nobel peace prize nominee, a New York Times bestselling author, and chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup.

Chef José Andrés has been named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in both 2012 and 2018, and awarded “Outstanding Chef” and “Humanitarian of the Year” by the James Beard Foundation. . In 2010, Andrés formed World Central Kitchen, a non-profit that provides smart solutions to end hunger and poverty by using the power of food to empower communities and strengthen economies. His team served over 3.6 million meals to the people of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

A pioneer of Spanish tapas in the United States, he is also known for his groundbreaking avant-garde cuisine and his award-winning group of more than 30 restaurants located throughout the country and beyond, ranging in a variety of culinary experiences from a food truck to his multi-location vegetable-focused fast casual Beefsteak, to world-class tasting menus like minibar by José Andrés and Somni, both of which have received two Michelin stars.

As a naturalized citizen originally from Spain, Andrés has been a tireless advocate for immigration reform.

Chef José Andrés is our 2021 Trailblazer in Philanthropy Awardee.

Special Thanks To Our Amazing Event Team!