Celebrities gathered to support the Eva Longoria Foundation’s (ELF) work to empower Latinas through education and entrepreneurship as well as to celebrate this year’s honorees, America Ferrera and Howard G. Buffett. Attendees at the November 15th gala dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills included: Eva Longoria Bastón, America Ferrera, Howard G. Buffett, Mario Lopez, Michael Peña, Wilmer Valderrama, Terry Crews, Gina Rodriguez, Dolores Huerta (Civil Rights Activist), Lana Parrilla (“ONCE UPON A TIME”), Jencarlos Canela, Justina Machado (“ONE DAY AT A TIME”), Amaury Nolasco (“TELENOVELA”), Jessica Marie Garcia (“ON MY BLOCK”), Gloria Calderon Kellett (“ONE DAY AT A TIME”), Paulina Chavez (“THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE OF ASHLEY GARCIA”), Izzy Diaz (“TELENOVELA”), Olga Segura (Waiting for the Barbarians), Anne Winters (“GRAND HOTEL”), Ariana Greenblatt (In the Heights), Ana Ortiz (“WHISKEY CAVALIER”), Carla Jimenez (“THE MICK”), Alex Meneses (“TELENOVELA”), Lincoln Younes (“GRAND HOTEL”), Carlos Miranda (“VIDA”), Rodney Peete, Jeimy Osorio (Fast Five), Maria Canals-Berrera (“CRISTELA”), and Luis Gerardo Mendez (Murder Mystery).
Guests arrived at The Four Seasons Beverly Hills for cocktails and h’ors d’oeuvures followed by a dinner and inspirational program. The evening’s co-host Mario Lopez gave welcoming remarks, highlighting another year of ELF’s amazing work to empower Latinas through education and entrepreneurship.
Next, Wilmer Valderrama was welcomed to the stage to present the “Latina Leadership Award” to America Ferrera for her significant contributions to the Latinx community through activism and advocacy. America accepted her award and urged Later, Eva took to the stage to present Howard G. Buffett with the Eva Longoria Foundation Ally Award, highlighting his groundbreaking philanthropy and his commitment to the Latinx community. Howard accepted his award and spoke about his friendship with Eva – before surprising Eva with a generous donation to support ELF’s work with Latina entrepreneurs! Finally, special guest and legendary civil rights activist Dolores Huerta reminded guests about the power of the Latinx community and the need for collective action before Eva and Mario returned to the stage to orchestrate a Call-to-Donate and give closing remarks.
The evening’s event was co-hosted by Best Buy and Century 21 Real Estate. Other sponsors included Target, College Track, Beneficial State Bank, Dreamworks, Coca-Cola, Google, CAA Foundation, Gil and Jacki Cisneros, NBCUniversal and Turner Impact Capital.
The Eva Longoria Foundation was established in 2012 by actress and activist Eva Longoria Bastón to bring people together and to empower Latinas to reach their full potential. The Foundation focuses on education and entrepreneurship because both have the power to transform lives and Latinas have distinctly unique challenges accessing both.
If you would like to donate to the Eva Longoria Foundation, please click here!
Photos: AndersonGroup / Eva Longoria Foundation
