As we gear up for the 2023 AL DIA Women of Merit later this month, AL DIA is excited to announce the emcee for the event.

She is Valeria Aponte Feliciano, anchor and reporter for NBC10/Telemundo62. 

Having joined Telemundo62 in June 2022, she is a passionate journalist whose career has been guided by the strong responsibility she feels to educate the community about their rights, provide them with important information, give them answers, and bring transparency to the profession. 

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Aponte Feliciano began her career after earning her bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism and Fine Arts from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

She came to Philadelphia from Arizona, where she was a national correspondent for Univision’s streaming service, Noticias 24/7. Prior to that, she served five years as a political reporter for Telemundo Arizona.

Her career — which has also taken her from New York to Texas and Virginia — spans just over a decade, with other previous roles including video journalist, anchor, and producer for WZDC Telemundo; video journalist for KGBT-TV; and executive producer and anchor for CitrusTV Noticias.

Throughout her career, Aponte Feliciano has won four Rocky Mountain Emmy awards, which included recognition for “Continuing Coverage” and “Journalistic Enterprise.” 

She is also a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. 

In many ways, the passion and dedication Aponte Feliciano has shown in her career makes her selection as the emcee for this year’s Women of Merit Forum apropos. 

The annual Women of Merit Forum acknowledges and celebrates the tremendous contributions of notable women leaders from throughout the region. 

This year, 12 women will be honored across five categories — Corporate, Education, Nonprofit, Public Service & Entrepreneurship — in addition to an Emerging Leader Award recipient and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. 

The full list of this year’s honorees can be found here. 

The 2023 AL DÍA Women of Merit Forum & Reception will take place Friday, May 19, 2023, at Franklin’s View. For more information or to purchase tickets to attend the premier celebration event of prominent, multicultural women leaders, click here.