Student Leadership Award

The Association of Latino Alumni is pleased to present the recipients of the ALA Student Leadership Awards. Given each year, this award recognizes a Latino/a senior who has demonstrated leadership, advanced diversity at Penn through student activities or community service, and exemplifies excellence.

The 2009 ALA Student Leadership Award was presented to Lany L. Villalobos, C '09 on May 1st, 2009. Lany, of Dallas, TX, is a history major with a near-perfect GPA and an equally impressive commitment to community work. From helping La Casa Latina develop a Community Resource Guide of Regional Latino Organizations to building homes and educating Latino immigrant workers about their labor rights in New Orleans, Lany has selflessly given of her time and set an example worth following.

The 2008 ALA Student Leadership Award was presented to Jasmine Perez, NU'08 on May 2nd, 2008. Jasmine, who graduated from the School of Nursing, has already been admitted to the Master of Science in Nursing program in Women's Health and Midwifery. She has served as President of ACELA, Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos, where she co-organized a college student panel consisting of students from different schools at Penn for Latino students in North Philadelphia. She hosted a program title "We Struggle", which compared and contrasted African American and Latin American Slavery, and organized Salsa & Flamenco workshops to educate the community about dance in Hispanic culture.

Below is the full list of ALA Student Leadership Awardees
2009 - Lany L. Villalobos, C '09
2008 - Jasmine Perez, C'08, NU'08, GNU'10
2007 - Raimundo J. Guerra, W'07
2006 - Naomi M. Adaniya, W'06
2005 - Celia E. Castellanos, W'05 and Jesse A. Salazar, C'05
2004 - Nicolas Rodriquez, C'04
2002 - Maribel Wan, C'02
2001 - Marcela Poveda, C'01
2000 - Adrianna Lopez, C'00