WHAT:
In partnership with MUFG Union Bank, N.A., KCET will air LOCAL HEROES 2014, a special tribute hosted by Val Zavala, celebrating the extraordinary contributions of 12 outstanding community leaders.
For 17 years, KCET and Union Bank have remained committed to cultural diversity through its Local Heroes Awards. The program recognizes and pays tribute to exemplary leaders who are making a difference and enriching the lives of others by improving their workplace, profession, community, region and the world. The yearlong celebration of diversity culminates each year with an awards ceremony, and more recently, a television special.
This year, a 60-minute special will feature the extended profiles (the short versions are available online) of the 2014 Local Heroes Award honorees, which include:
- Florencia Molina comes to community activism through personal experience: she is a Mexican national who became a victim of human trafficking in the Los Angeles garment industry. After escaping, she began to rebuild her life and speak out to raise public awareness about modern slavery.
- Tony Tolbert who, for the last two years, gave his home to a family in need, charging them only $1 a month in rent while they got back on their feet.
- Leslye Borden who launched Handmade Especially for You, an organization that provides handmade “comfort” scarves as gifts to women who have suffered abuse.
- Pastor Dan Hooper who provides services to LGBT inmates and ex-offenders seeking to lead constructive lives and reintegrate into society
- Naomi Ackerman who works as a social activist, mediator and conflict-resolution specialist. Her educational curriculum, “Relationships 101,” is currently being implemented in public and private high schools as well as in juvenile detention camps in Southern California.
- Alan Nishio who is a highly dedicated and respected leader in the Southern California Japanese American community and who has spent more than four decades working with multiple generations in social and civic engagement programs.
- Ann Reiss Lane, the Founder and Chair Emeritus of Women Against Gun Violence, a group which empowers women including those who were victims of gun violence to help bring down the local, gun homicide rate.
- Daryl L. Osby, the first African American Fire Chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD), the second largest fire department in America, who is committed to mentoring youth and fostering diversity in the workplace.
- Susan Feniger, chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, community activist, and a proud member of the LGBT Community, who advocates for LGBT rights and mentors youth about giving back to their community.
To learn more about the Local Heroes program, please visit: www.kcet.org/localheroes or www.unionbank.com/localheroes.
WHEN:
Monday, Nov. 24, 2014
9 p.m.
ABOUT KCET
On-air, online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. Throughout its 50-year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family and children’s programs, its outreach and community services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. For additional information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org. KCET is a service of KCETLink.