Soledad O'Brien at the ALMA Awards

Soledad O'Brien arrives for the 2009 ALMA Awards
Photo taken at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus in Westwood, CA

NCLR (the National Council of La Raza) is the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. promoting the advancement of Latino families in this country, creating opportunities and opening doors. NCLR created the ALMA Awards in 1995 as part of its strategy to promote fair, accurate, and balanced portrayals of Latinos in the entertainment industry. The show was named “ALMA” (Spanish for “spirit”), which represents the determined spirit of the Latino people in an effort to reflect the spirit as well as the scope of the awards program.