EDWARD JAMES OLMOS First American-Born Latino Academy Award-Nominated Actor, Screenwriter and Director, youth and education activist
The Los Angeles-born Edward James Olmos is an Academy Award-nominated actor for his role in Stand and Deliver. His notable roles are American Me, Miami Vice and most recently as Captain Adama in Battlestar Galactica. Olmos is a former UNICEF ambassador, Boys & Girls Club of America Hall of Fame member and Hispanic Scholarship Fund supporter. He is a frequent speaker and advocate for youth, using his own disadvantaged background as an example. He says, “If I made it, you can make it.” His calm activism during the Los Angeles riots will long be remembered during the Los Angeles Riots.
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ Writer, director, producer and founder of El Rey Network
Rodriguez became known as a low budget independent filmmaker. His groundbreaking film El Mariachi (part of the Mexico trilogy that includes Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico), was made for a mere $7,000. Other film credits include Sin City, Sin City 2 and Machete. He developed and popularized a new filming style called, the “one-man film crew,” which has become known as “Mariachi-style.” Most recently he launched his own English-language crossover cable TV network, El Rey, with a $72 million investment from Univision.
CARLOS SANTANA Grammy Award-Winning Musician, Songwriter, Children’s Philanthropy
Santana is a world-class guitarist and musician who pioneered the fusion of rock and Latin American sounds. In 2003, Rolling Stone has named him the 15th greatest guitar player of all time on their top 100 guitarists list. Santana has 10 Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards. He and the band were dubbed a Woodstock success and offered a record deal thereafter. Today, Santana is noted for musical collaborations and continues to explore multiple music genres. Santana does philanthropy work through his foundation, the Milagro Foundation, which helps underserved and vulnerable children around the world by providing opportunities in education, health and the arts.
RICHARD SERRA Sculptor
Born in San Francisco, Serra has been called the most influential sculptor of the late 20th century and early 21st century. Art critics have categorized him as a minimalist who challenges the eye through abstraction. As a minimalist sculptor and video artist, he is known for working with large-scale assemblies of sheet metal. His work is placed all over the world. In the U.S., his creations are installed in the Olympic Village in Seattle and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., among others. Serra participates with art education groups, the Broad Art Foundation and the Dia Art Foundation.
54 • October / November 2015
NINA TASSLER Chairman, CBS Entertainment
Tassler, of Puerto Rican descent, is a decisionmaker indeed as a Latina at the helm of the No. 1 network. She became CBS’ chairperson in 2004 and presided over the comparatively drama-free late-night shift changes while filling a full summer slate of programming and expanding other limited series. She has guided the series CSI to multiple spinoffs. In September 2015 she announced that she will be stepping down as chief at the end of the year and cited a desire to pursue other creative opportunities as the reason for her departure. She has a book due for release in April 2016 titled What I Tell My Daughter.
BENICIO DEL TORO Academy Award, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award Winning Actor and Film Producer
Del Toro won the Academy Award for his role in the film Traffic. He is only the third Puerto Rican to win the Academy Award. Other film credits include Snatch, Sin City, Che and Guardians of the Galaxy. He will also appear in the new Star Wars movie. Del Toro became the spokesman of the educational campaign, “Yo Limpio a Puerto Rico,” an environmental organization that creates awareness and mobilizes the Puerto Rican community to recycle and protect the environment.