HELO Honors Adolfo Carrión’s National Leadership

In presenting the HELO National Leadership Award, President Silva said that HELO and NLC are privileged to take the opportunity to recognize Carrión’s vision and commitment to the Latino national agenda with his past service as president of NALEO. 

“I am personally honored to have served with you as a member of the NALEO board over the past year, and am pleased that we have had a chance to help make a positive impact on the issues facing our cities,” Silva remarked. “I know that in your new role at the White House, we will continue to hold dialogues with you so that we can be partners in revitalizing our communities.”

Carrión was also honored by NALEO with remarks about his accomplishments from outgoing NALEO President Mary Herrera, New Mexico Secretary of State. 

In response, Carrión said, “As director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs, and past president of NALEO, I am proud to serve with President Obama to shape policies that will affect more than 203 million Americans who live in urban areas, including 36.8 million Latinos, or 83.5 percent of the nation’s Latino population.”

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in his welcome to NALEO participants, stated, “It gives me great pleasure to join with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials in welcoming you to the great city of Los Angeles — the city of America’s dreams and promises. We are a city where 48.5 percent of the 3.85 million population is of Latino descent, and where the changing demographic face of America is taking shape right before our eyes. We are a city where we truly live in a microcosm of America’s biggest challenges and greatest hopes.”  

This year’s NALEO conference featured topics such as education policy, health policy, sustainable communities and governance and political empowerment. 

HELO also co-sponsored a panel discussion, “Fighting Fraud in the Public Sector: Cost Effective Ways to Establish Internal Controls and Fraud Prevention.”

HELO’s Board of Directors also conducted a meeting. Among discussion topics, the board talked about future candidates for the NLC Board of Directors vacancies that will be filled at NLC’s Congress of Cities in November in San Antonio, and continued strategic planning for membership recruitment and lobbying with NLC to members of Congress as a follow up to this spring’s HELO on the Hill series of congressional briefings.