Gary Hernandez Named One Of San Francisco Bay Area's Most Influential Latinos
October 15, 2007
(SAN FRANCISCO, October 15, 2007)—Gary Hernandez, chair of law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP’s national Insurance Regulatory Practice Group, was selected by the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SFHCC), San Francisco Business Times, Wells Fargo and other community organizations to receive the Latino Business Leadership Award for 2007. Hernandez was also recognized by the group in 2005.
Hernandez, who is based in Sonnenschein’s San Francisco office and serves on the firmwide management committee, was honored at the Latino Business Awards Dinner on September 28 at the Hyatt in San Francisco. The event acknowledged the 33 most influential Latinos in the San Francisco Bay Area in the areas of corporate, emerging leaders under 40, entrepreneurship, health, nonprofit/philanthropy and public sector.
“A leader is the conduit between the present and our future,” said Richard Ventura, president and chief executive officer of SFHCC. “Gary Hernandez and our other honorees truly demonstrate the unrecognized talent we have around the Bay Area by telling the stories of people who have broken through the glass ceiling.”
A former deputy insurance commissioner and chief of enforcement for the California Department of Insurance and a deputy San Francisco city attorney, Hernandez is widely recognized as an expert in insurance regulatory and administrative law. Hernandez was selected as one of the most influential Hispanics in the United States as part of Hispanic Business magazine’s “100 Influentials List 2006.”
“It’s a privilege to be honored with this prestigious group of business leaders,” Hernandez said. “This award sheds light on the opportunity we all have to provide a strong example to our youngsters about the possibilities that lie ahead of them.”
Hernandez, an active community volunteer devoted to enhancing educational opportunities for Latinos, serves as a trustee for University of California Merced (UC Merced), working to build a diverse campus of higher education in California’s Central Valley. As legal counsel for the Latino Community Foundation, he has also focused on raising the reading level and improving educational advancement for Latino youth in the Bay Area. His environmental work as a new member of the Trust for Public Land has been focused on increasing education and access opportunities for inner-city youth for California coastal and in-land parks.
The awards dinner, attended by more than 500 people, included the presentation to each honoree of certificates of honor from several California dignitaries, including U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, state Sen. Leland Yee and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. The event is available for viewing by Comcast On Demand customers.
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Media Contact:
Melissa Anderson
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
(213) 892-5025
mganderson@sonnenschein.com
