Join us for this extraordinary event as we honor alumni and scholars for their leadership and community service. We will celebrate our 50th Anniversary and the Latino Legacy at USC. This milestone event will be co-chaired by George L. Pla MPA ’74 and Jules Buenabenta ’87 which will take place at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
2024 Sponsorship & Tickets
Presenting Sponsor $100,000
- VIP seating for thirty (30) guests
- Prominent Multimedia Recognition at Dinner
- Recognition from podium
- Story write up on USC LAA newsletter
- Promotion on the USC LAA’s social media platforms before and after event including company logo
- Full-page color advertisement in printed Gala Program
- Full-page color advertisement in digital Gala Program and displayed on the Coliseum Jumbotron
- Invitation for 4 to a private tour of the Coliseum on a date separate from event
- Logo on the digital Gala program and marketing materials
- Linked Logo on the USC LAA Gala website
- Product placement opportunity
- Four USC LAA scholar student tickets sponsored to attend the event
Golden Sponsor $50,000
- VIP seating for twenty (20) guests
- Recognition from podium
- Full-page color advertisement in printed Gala Program
- Full-page color advertisement in digital Gala Program and displayed on the Coliseum Jumbotron
- Multimedia Recognition at Dinner
- Invitation for 4 to a private tour of the Coliseum on a date separate from event
- Logo on the digital Gala program and marketing materials
- Linked Logo on the USC LAA Gala website
- Two USC LAA scholar student tickets sponsored to attend the event
Signature Sponsor $30,000
- VIP seating for ten (10) guests
- Full-page advertisement in printed Gala Program
- Full-page color advertisement in digital Gala Program and displayed on the Coliseum Jumbotron
- Multimedia Recognition at the Gala
- Invitation for 4 to a private tour of the Coliseum on a date separate from event
- Logo on the digital Gala program and marketing materials
- Logo recognition on event collateral, LAA website, and social media
- Linked Logo recognition on LAA Gala webpage for one year
- Two USC LAA scholar student tickets sponsored to attend the event
Benefactor Sponsor $18,000
- Premier seating for ten (10) guests
- Full-page color advertisement in digital Gala Program and displayed on the Coliseum Jumbotron
- Invitation for 2 to a private tour of the Coliseum on a date separate from event
- Full-page advertisement in digital Gala Program
- Multimedia Recognition at the Gala
- Logo on the digital Gala program and marketing materials
- Logo recognition on event collateral, LAA website, and social media
- Linked Logo recognition on LAA Gala webpage for one year
Trustee Sponsor $12,000
- Premier seating for ten (10) guests
- Full-page color advertisement in digital Gala Program and displayed on the Coliseum Jumbotron
- Logo on the digital Gala program and marketing materials
- Name listed on the USC LAA Gala website
Trojan Sponsor $6,000
- Preferred seating for ten (10) guests
- Half-page advertisement in digital Gala Program
- Listed on the digital Gala program
- Name listed on the USC LAA website
Friend of the LAA $4,200
- Premier seating for (4) guests
- Full-page colore advertisement in digital Gala Program
- Name listed on the digital Gala program
Individual Tickets
- Individual tickets will be available later in the year based on availability
- Sponsor a Scholar $150 I would like to sponsor a LAA Scholar – 100% tax deductible
**ALL TICKET SALES ARE FINAL
Digital Advertisement
For sponsorship and ticket opportunities, please click here. If you have any questions, contact Dolores Sotelo via email at dsotelo@usc.edu or Mercy Willard at mercywil@usc.edu. You can also call the LAA Office at 213 740-4735.
For their longstanding partnership, employee volunteerism, and fundraising advocacy for the USC LAA.
Full-Page Color $2,500 (Format: PDF file, JPEG, or TIF 26″ wide x 11″ high – full color 144 dpi)
Half-Page Color $1,250 (Format: PDF file, JPEG, or TIF – 13″ wide x 11″ high – full color – 144 dpi)
Please email ADs to Dolores Sotelo at dsotelo@usc.edu by Friday, February 2, 2024
Gala contributions are tax-deductible with the exception of $150 per ticket
USC Tax ID: 95-1642394
About
Our annual Scholarship Gala is our premier fundraising event. It provides an opportunity to network with the who’s who of the Latino business community, alumni and friends.
Every year, we present two awards at our gala. Commemorating the legacy of USC’s eighth president, the Dr. John R. Hubbard Award is presented to an outstanding graduating Latino student for academic achievement, leadership and community service. The Legacy Award is presented to an alumnus/a for his or her contributions to USC and the LAA, professional achievements and philanthropy. We will award the New Alumni Visionary Award in 2024 recognizing a USC alumnus for their exceptional achievement in any field. The recipient must have attained and maintained extremely high stations in their chosen fields and in their service to society.
Call for Nominations
Each year, the USC Latino Alumni Association recognizes distinguished alumni for their contributions to USC and the community. Awards will be presented at the USC LAA 50th Anniversary Scholarship Gala that will be held on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
AWARDS:
Legacy Award
The USC Latino Alumni Association recognizes a USC alumnus for their personal and professional achievements, dedication to the Latino community, and service to the university.
NEW Alumni Visionary Award
The USC Latino Alumni Association recognizes a USC alumnus with the alumni visionary award for their exceptional achievement in any field. The recipient must have attained and maintained extremely high stations in their chosen fields and in their service to society.
Nominations must be submitted online by Wednesday, November 1, 2023. Self-nominations are not accepted. Posthumous awards are not granted. If you need additional information, please email Mercy Willard, Executive Director, USC LAA at mercywil@usc.edu.
Past Honorees
2023 Legacy Award Honoree
Carmen Herrera ’89
Entrepreneur and Former Corporate Executive
Carmen is an entrepreneur and Certified Public Accountant. Her latest venture is “Vida For Vitality,” a juice enterprise focused on brain health with a particular interest in underserved communities. Carmen’s corporate experience includes finance and operational roles with Fortune 500, international, start-up and Big Four public accounting firms in Energy, Manufacturing, Satellite Communications, and Entertainment.
For nearly 20 years, Carmen has worked with the Sempra Energy family of companies, holding various director roles. In 2007, Carmen became the first Latina director at this Fortune 500 company. Areas of responsibilities included Real Estate, Fleet Services, Facility Operations & Capital Programs, Land Management and Supplier Diversity, including sustainable programs implementation.
Carmen started her career with Ernst & Young LLP as an auditor and worked in various industries in financial and accounting roles from financial analyst to controller with organizations such as Paramount Pictures, Univisa, Inc., Hughes Communications and StarGuide Digital Networks before joining Sempra in 2001.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Carmen serves on the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors, is the Co-Chair of the 2023 USC Women’s Conference, past chair of the Corporate Advisory Council of the USC Latino Alumni Association and the current president of the board of trustees for Camp Ronald McDonald For Good Times. Carmen has held leadership positions with various non-profit organizations, and she is an alumna of the Southern California Leadership Network, Leadership California, and LEAD San Diego.
In her spare time, Carmen enjoys sailing, traveling, cycling, college football and other sports.
2023 Corporate Leadership Award Honoree
2022 Legacy Award Honoree
Laura Peralta MPA ’10
Vice President, Community and Business Development JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Laura joined JPMorgan Chase as Vice President of Community and Business Development in 2021. Prior to joining the Chase family, Laura worked as Vice President of Community Development at Citibank, where she managed public-private partnerships and funded nonprofit organizations that serve low-income communities to help close the racial wealth gap. Laura has an extensive background in government relations through her work as Policy Deputy at the Los Angeles City Council, Program Manager for Diversity Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. where she served as a political appointee for President Barack Obama, and as Director of Local Government Relations at California Grocers Association.
Peralta holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology from the University of California, Irvine. Laura is the immediate past Board Chair of the USC Price Alumni Association, currently serves on the USC Alumni Association – Los Angeles Regional Advisory Group, and she enjoys mentoring Price students and alumni.
Laura is from Argentina, so she naturally loves steak, red wine and futbol.
2022 Dr. John R. Hubbard Award Honoree
Alejandra Barreto
Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Minor in Spanish Master of Public Health Class of 2022
Alejandra Barreto is a first-generation, pre-medical student from Lynwood, California. She is a USC Mork Scholar (10 selected), Gates Scholar (300 selected nationwide), LeaderShape participant which is a national institute to transform the leadership capacity, and head student researcher for USC’s Office for Health Promotion. Through her research, she strives to improve USC students’ well-being by investigating and developing strategies to promote a sense of belonging, equity in and out of the classroom, decrease substance abuse, and promote healthy relationships.
As a daughter of Mexican immigrants and witnessing firsthand the challenges faced due to lack of insurance and language/cultural barriers to healthcare, she cares deeply about underserved communities. She is the co-president of Flying Samaritans and director of outreach of Mobile Clinic, where she focuses on bringing access to health care to the community of Tijuana, Mexico, and LA’s homeless community through organizing free clinics.
One of her motivations is to improve the navigation of resources among high school students. As co-president of Scholars Leading Scholars, she has created partnerships with neighboring high schools to provide mentorship for 80+ high-school students yearly and help them apply to jobs, internships, and college.
In addition to her involvement at USC, Ms. Barreto is a student researcher for the University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics where she investigates how immigration status and policy affects Hispanic women’s perinatal and infant health outcomes.
Alejandra will be applying to medical school this summer in pursuit of her aspirations of becoming a physician who advocates for accessible and equitable health care for underserved communities.
2022 Corporate Leadership Award Honoree
Past Galas
Check out our past event photos:
Please view past program and tribute books:
2023 Program Book
2023 Tribute Book
2021 Program Book
2021 Tribute Book
2021 Photos
Please view past recap videos:
2023 Sponsors
Thank you to our 2023 gala sponsors.
Presenting Sponsors
Text-to-Donate Campaign Sponsor
Carmen ’84 and Robert Nava ’82
Benefactor Sponsors
Kim & Rigo Diaz ’89
Susan Garner ’67
Veronica ’94 & Raul Rodriguez ’94
Trustee Sponsors
Elisa & Gustavo Amaral MBA ’14
Amy & Jules Buenabenta ’87
Ellen Chen & Mario Del Pero
Carmen L. Herrera ’89
Trojan Sponsors
1st Century Bank
AT&T
Bank of America
Burlington Stores, Inc.
C3 Technology Services
Candela & Erick Diaz ’95
Christina EdD ’19 & Alberto Gonzalez ML ’09
Chubb Group Insurance
Dr. Yasmin Davidds ’95 Leadership Institute
Multicultural Women Executive Foundation
F. Gavina & Sons, Inc.
Glenda K. & Saul Alvarado ’00 A
GYL CPAs and Advisors
Heather Cruz ’89
Inglewood Park Cemetery
Insperity
K & L Gates Law
Kathleen ’83 & Robert Campos ’91
KW Commercial
Law Offices of Gladdys J. Uribe
Mauro Martinez & Family
Menchaca & Company
Morgan Stanley
Nancy Nip Rougine
Plascencia Risk Intelligence & Insurance Marketing Management, Inc. (PRIIMM)
Prestige Protocol
Sonia ’97 & Sean Endler
Stifel
Tere’s Inc.
USC Alumni Association
USC Credit Union
USC Marshall School of Business
USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative
USC University Relations
Verizon
Verizon Connect
Wulbaldina Hinojosa
Friend of LAA Sponsors
Zurich