Actress Rita Moreno Guest Speaker for HPGM Gala – 2016
MILWAUKEE – The Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee (HPGM), announced that Rita Moreno will be the guest speaker for this year’s 2016 Five Star Gala, presented by BMO Harris Bank and Johnson Controls, to be held on Saturday, May 14, at the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee.
Moreno will attend the third annual HPGM Five Star Gala, to celebrate and recognize HPGM’s 15 years of strong leadership under the theme: Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present, Building the Future.
“We are thrilled to host the talented and accomplished Rita Moreno to celebrate HPGM’s 15 years of dedicated and unwavering support of encouraging Milwaukee-area Hispanic professionals to reach and exceed their goals,” said Kara Kaiser, HPGM Gala Co-chair and Managing Director at BMO Private Bank.
Moreno is one of only twelve performers, and the first Hispanic, to have won all four major annual American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Moreno won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in the critically acclaimed film, West Side Story. She is also well known for her movie appearances in Singin’ in the Rain and The King and I.
Moreno won a Grammy Award for her role in “The Electric Company” soundtrack album, and was awarded a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in the musical The Ritz. Moreno later went on to win two Emmy Awards for roles in The Muppet Show and The Rockford Files. In addition to her accomplishments, President George W. Bush awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Moreno in June 2004. In 2010, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama, and was honored by the Hispanic Organization of Latin actresses (HOLA) with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Most recently, Moreno received a Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2015.
“Rita’s dynamic energy and spirit are perfectly suited to help celebrate HPGM’s 15 years of dedicated support to enrich Hispanic professionals in Milwaukee,” said Grady Crosby, Vice President of Public Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer at Johnson Controls. “We thank her for her generosity in sharing her uplifting stories of achievement, dedication, and perseverance.”
“Rita’s talent and achievements are inspirational,” said HPGM President & CEO Griselda Aldrete, “We welcome the opportunity to hear her story and offer HPGM members, from students to long-standing professionals, the chance to hear, firsthand, how her talent, hard work, and faith in herself propelled her success.”
HPGM’s mission paves the way for Milwaukee-area Hispanic professionals to thrive by creatively fostering leadership, mentoring, education, networking, and new initiative opportunities. Part of the night’s events will include highlighting HPGM’s successful student programs, and announcing the launch of a new undergraduate scholarship program. All funds raised at the 2016 HPGM Five Star Gala will support new initiatives, scholarships and the growth of the organization.
Individual tickets and tables of 10 to the 2016 HPGM Gala are available for purchase by visiting www.hpgm.org, clicking here to register, or contacting Kim Schultz at HPGM at either 414-223-4614 or kim.schultz@hpgm.org.
