2023 grandes mariscales
NASA engineer José M. Hernández wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic-American had been chosen to travel into space. "I was hoeing a row of sugar beets in a field near Stockton, Calif., and I heard on my transistor radio that Franklin Chang-Diaz had been selected for the Astronaut Corps," says Hernandez, who was a senior in high school at the time. "I was already interested in science and engineering," Hernandez remembers, "but that was the moment I said, 'I want to fly in space.' And that's something I've been striving for each day since then." That hard work paid off when was selected to begin training as a mission specialist as part of the 2004 astronaut candidate class.
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​One of four children in a migrant farming family from Mexico, Hernandez -- who didn't learn English until he was 12 years old -- spent much of his childhood on what he calls "the California circuit," traveling with his family from Mexico to southern California each March, then working northward to the Stockton area by November, picking strawberries and cucumbers at farms along the route. They would then return to Mexico for Christmas and start the cycle all over again in the spring.
​"Some kids might think it would be fun to travel like that," Hernandez laughs, "but we had to work. It wasn't a vacation."
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After graduating high school, Hernandez enrolled at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering and was awarded a full scholarship to the graduate program at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where he continued his engineering studies. In 1987, he accepted a full-time job with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he had worked as a co-op in college.
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While at Lawrence Livermore, Hernandez worked on signal and image processing applications in radar imaging, computed tomography, and acoustic imaging. Later in his career, Hernandez worked on developing quantitative x-ray film imaging analysis techniques for the x-ray laser program. Hernandez applied these techniques in the medical physics arena and co-developed the first full-field digital mammography imaging system. This system has proven useful for detecting breast cancer at an earlier stage than present film/screen mammography techniques. Hernandez has won recognition awards for his work on this project. He has also worked in the international arena where he represented Lawrence Livermore and the U.S. Department of Energy on Russian nuclear non-proliferation issues.
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In 2001, Hernández joined the Johnson Space Center and soon became Chief of the Materials and Processes Branch. During the astronaut application process, Hernández had to meet with a review board. That's where he came face-to-face with his original inspiration: Franklin Chang-Diaz.
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"It was a strange place to find myself, being evaluated by the person who gave me the motivation to get there in the first place," Hernández says. "But I found that we actually had common experiences -- a similar upbringing, the same language issues. That built up my confidence. Any barriers that existed, he had already hurdled them."
Hernández smiles. "Now it's my turn!"
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Hernández was selected as part of the 19th class of astronauts in 2004. In 2006, José completed Astronaut Candidate Training and in 2009, he was a mission specialist on the STS-128 mission on board the Space Shuttle, Discovery.
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Since leaving NASA, he served as the Executive Director of Strategic Operations at MEI Technologies in Texas. In 2012, he ran for the US House of Representatives in the 10th California Congressional District.
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Hernández received the 2016 National Hispanic Hero Award presented by the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute.
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CEO of Tierra Luna Engineering, LLC, José Hernández continues his long history in the field of engineering and space.
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2006 Honorary Doctorate- University of the Pacific
2004 NASA Astronaut- Space Shuttle Program
1986 U.C. Santa Barbara Graduate, Masters Electrical Engineering
1984 University of the Pacific Graduate, Bachelor of Science- Engineering
1980 Franklin High School Graduate
Martín Dorado is a 5th grade elementary school teacher at Madison Elementary, currently in his 9th year teaching in the Pasadena Unified School District. An important school to the Pasadena Community, Madison Elementary serves perhaps the largest number of latino bilingual learners in Pasadena. And as a public educator for Madison, Dorado has shown his commitment to the school by persistently encouraging, teaching, and coaching his students to be the individuals they wish to become. Understanding the significance of culture and identity in the classroom, he has championed the expression of our students’ diverse cultural heritages. As a Mexican-American himself, he is proud of his Zacatecano cultural roots.
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Dorado has been a member of the Pasadena Community his entire life. Perhaps the street he grew up on, Manzanita Avenue, would foreshadow his career as a public educator. As a student, Dorado attended Pasadena public schools, beginning with Allendale Elementary, Wilson Middle School, and Blair High School. He would then go on to study at Pasadena Community College, and ultimately transfer to CAL State LA. Throughout his time in higher education, Dorado also worked as an instructional assistant at Altadena Elementary where he realized a career in public education was a way to encourage and uplift young multicultural scholars much like himself.
Currently, Dorado is continuing his work in higher education, as he is enrolled in a Master’s Program in Education for Social Change with an option in Critical Bilingualism and Biliteracy. Dorado wishes to set a good example for his students, showing them that being a learner does not stop in adulthood, and that each one of them, through a voracious appetite for learning, is capable of reaching their own goals.
2023 grandes mariscales
angélica salas
Gran Mariscal
Angélica Salas es la Directora Ejecutiva de la Coalición por los Derechos Humanos de los Inmigrantes (CHIRLA) y es ampliamente considerada como una de las activistas/organizadoras más talentosas del paÃs en la actualidad.
Desde que se convirtió en director de CHIRLA en 1999, Salas ha encabezado y ganado varias campañas ambiciosas. Ayudó a obtener matrÃcula estatal y acceso a ayuda financiera para estudiantes inmigrantes indocumentados, licencias de conducir, servicios legales y atención médica para la comunidad indocumentada en California. Salas también es un destacado portavoz y organizador nacional de la polÃtica federal de inmigración.
Es una figura destacada en la prensa étnica y convencional y a menudo se la cita en todos los temas relacionados con el bienestar de los inmigrantes. Bajo el liderazgo de Salas, CHIRLA y sus socios nacionales han sentado las bases para el aumento del activismo por los derechos de los inmigrantes. Es lÃder en coaliciones nacionales de organizaciones que han movilizado exitosamente a millones de inmigrantes para exigir una reforma migratoria justa y humana con un camino hacia la ciudadanÃa, la reunificación familiar y la protección de los derechos civiles y laborales. Uno de sus mayores logros en CHIRLA ha sido la transformación de una coalición de prestación de servicios sociales en una organización de membresÃa masiva a nivel estatal que empodera a los inmigrantes para que participen en la defensa de sus derechos.
Hoy CHIRLA entrelaza organización, participación cÃvica electoral, educación comunitaria, promoción de polÃticas y servicios legales para involucrar y empoderar plenamente a las familias inmigrantes.
Angélica entiende de primera mano la experiencia de los inmigrantes. Cuando tenÃa cinco años, llegó a Estados Unidos desde México para reunirse con sus padres indocumentados, que habÃan llegado a Estados Unidos para mantener a su familia. Pasadena, California ha sido su hogar desde que llegó a los EE. UU. Se graduó de Pasadena High School y de Occidental College con una licenciatura en Historia y una licenciatura en SociologÃa. Recibió un Honorario de su Alma Mater en 2007. Angélica Salas está casada con Mayron Payes, una inmigrante de El Salvador, y tiene dos hijos adultos, Maya y Rubén Payes.
Yuny Parada
Gran Mariscal de la Comunidad
Yuny Parada llegó a los Estados Unidos desde El Salvador a la edad de 18 años. Poco después se estableció en Pasadena y la ha llamado su hogar desde 1979.
Desde entonces, Parada ha trabajado incansablemente por el empoderamiento de los latinos en su comunidad, utilizando la educación como columna vertebral de su causa. Comenzó su pasión por el servicio con su función como Comisionada de Relaciones Humanas de la Ciudad de Pasadena, que ocupó durante muchos años. Parada también formó parte de la junta directiva de la Liga de Mujeres Votantes de Pasadena, donde trabajó para lograr su visión de equidad e inclusión para la comunidad latina en Pasadena. Ella defendió las relaciones interétnicas a través de su participación en el programa Liderazgo en Relaciones Interétnicas (LDIR) y tradujo esas lecciones en participación en la clase inaugural de Leadership Pasadena. Parada ha tenido una amplia gama de participación comunitaria, y actualmente se desempeña como miembro de la junta del CapÃtulo de Pasadena de la ACLU y del Comité Asesor Latino del Presidente de Pasadena City College.
Parada crió con orgullo a sus 3 hijos en Pasadena y ahora ocupa uno de los puestos más exigentes hasta el momento: abuela de 6 hijos.