Event honors young, successful Latinos
Eight of 40 attendees recognized represent the Capital Region
The aroma of steaming rice and empanadas filled the ballroom in the Empire State Plaza’s lower concourse while English and Spanish intermingled among the crowd — a sharp reminder of the Capital Region’s vibrant, historic Hispanic community.
The event, held by the Hispanic Coalition of New York, brought together 40 of the most accomplished Latinos younger than 40 from around the state.
“For me, what I saw was ‘How come we don’t have more of a recognition of Hispanic, Latin Americans?” said Monica Arias Miranda, the founder of the Hispanic Coalition of New York.
Now in its eighth year, the Rising Star awards aim to highlight the Hispanic culture and celebrate what Miranda sees as a misunderstood and “underrepresented” population.
“The dialogue is that Latinos are rapists, murderers, and this thing about immigrants are coming to take. That is not what I know, what I see,” Miranda said. “This is a group of 40 Hispanic Latinos and their families. They are giving more than what they’re taking. This is the true representation of the Hispanic community across our state.”
Of the 40 award-winners, eight hail from the Capital Region. But the professions and lines of work for the recipients varied drastically.
One winner, 28-year-old Carolina Motter Catarina, moved to the U.S. from Brazil threeand-a-half years ago to enroll as a PH.D student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Catarina studies bioprocess and biotechnology, and has worked to develop skin models that mimic human skin and can act as a replacement for animal testing, which is used for toxicology and screenings for products like makeup.
“It’s funny, because I feel like these are relatives, like when you go to these big family lunches,” Catarina said of the event, and her inclusion in the Hispanic community as a newer resident in the Capital Region.
“I’m always looking for opportunities to inspire students back home,” she said.
Another winner, George Lopez, 25, is a Troy native who works as the assistant director of undergraduate admissions at The College of St. Rose.
Lopez attended Siena College and has also worked at Green Tech High Charter School as a college access coordinator.
He said he hopes to continue pursuing a career in education, and has been working to make Saint Rose more of an active member within the Albany community, he said.
“I feel like I’ve kind of been raised up my community, and a lot of these things, its just me giving back,” Lopez said. “These are the small moments that I kind of realize, ‘Oh, I’m not the only one that’s out here doing work.”
The other local winners included Raquel Gonzalez, the deputy commissioner for administration for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. Gonzalez overcame a troubled upbringing in New Jersey to receive a bachelor’s and master’s degree from George Mason University.
Alfredo Balarin, the assistant director of student life at Hudson Valley Community College and the first Latino elected to the city of Albany Common Council, was also a recipient, along with Staten Island-native Justin Robert Luna, a manufacturer with General Electric.
Others honored were Ruthie Belkis Young, an organizer with the 1199SEIU health care workers union, and Steffany Paniagua-jones, an event manager with Prime Business Dining who was raised in the Dominican Republic.
Yessenia Morales, a licensed practical nurse with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, is a pancreatic cancer survivor who has helped bridged the language barrier for health care patients in the Capital Region.
For Lopez, the award was an honor that he says validated his career path, which he said can be difficult for young people to find early on.
“Being a young person, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what you’re trying to do with your life,” Lopez said. “So it’s really cool to get recognized and it kind of creates a sense of an affirmation of your path, what you’re trying to accomplish.”
diego.mendoza-moyers@ timesunion.com 518-454-5323