ALVA Holds Successful Career Expo and Awards Event

Herndon, VA – The American Latino Veterans Association (ALVA) celebrated a successful Career Expo and ALVA Awards event on November 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. These included a series of panels and a job matchmaking focused on a variety of industry sectors as part of its Career Expo as well as an evening reception for the 2023 “ALVA Awards” to recognize notable honorees. The events were hosted by AT&T at its Forum for Technology, Entertainment & Policy.
Photos from the events can be found here: CLICK HERE FOR EVENT PHOTOS
Videos from the events can be found here: CLICK HERE FOR EVENT VIDEOS

The Career Expo included the following panels with expert speakers:
• Transitioning from military to civilian careers: Christine Hill (McKesson) and Graciela Tiscareño-Sato
• Careers in banking and finance: Moderator: Justin Velez-Hagan (NPRCC); Panelists: Kristen Sullivan (JPMorgan Chase) and Aaron Miranda (Wells Fargo)
• Careers in telecommunications: Moderator: Danny Vargas, Panelists: Englebert “Freddie” Jimenez (AT&T) and Thomas Eybl (T-Mobile)
• Other careers: Moderator: Rebecca Mejia (MassMutual), Panelists: Jose “Abe” Rivas (Accenture), Luis Belen (NHIT), and Jose Melecio (Department of Veterans Affairs)
The following were the ALVA Awards categories and honorees. Profiles for the honorees can be found here: https://alvavets.org/alva-awards-honorees/
• Familia Award: Robert Bard, Lupita Colmenero, and Family
• Veteran Entrepreneur Award: Jeffrey Vigil (My Business Matches)
• Community Service Award: Graciela Tiscareño-Sato
• Military Service Award: SEAC Ramon “CZ” Colon-Lopez
• Role Model Award: Hon. Carlos Del Toro (Secretary of the Navy)

“The Career Expo provided extremely useful information on transitioning to successful civilian careers and details on high growth industry sectors and the ALVA Awards were very inspirational and allowed us to celebrate not only the honorees but also their wonderful families,” stated ALVA Founder/Chairman & CEO, Danny Vargas. He continued, “We greatly appreciate our sponsors, partners, supporters, and friends who made these events possible and who believe in our mission to help Latino veterans thrive and recognize their indispensable contributions.”
ALVA events are made possible by the generous support of the following sponsors:
• Patriot LeveL; JPMorgan Chase, PMI, and Wells Fargo
• Honor LeveL: AT&T, Accenture, T-Mobile
• Duty Level: McKesson, Verizon, Bristol Myers Squibb, Republic Services

ALVA focuses on five key areas: Workforce Development/Job Placement, Entrepreneurship and Business Growth, Telling the Stories of Latinos’ Military Contributions since the inception of our nation, Advocacy on Policies that impact veterans and Latinos, and a Repository of Information on Benefits/Resources these veterans have earned.

About American Latino Veterans Association (ALVA):
The American Latino Veterans Association (ALVA) is a registered 501c3 that exists to help American Latino veterans thrive after their military service, access the benefits they have earned, and enhance recognition of Latino contributions to our nation’s defense since before its inception. For more information on ALVA visit https://www.alvavets.org or follow us on our social media channels @alvavets

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