Rays of sunshine brought joy and happiness to the hustle and bustle of a typical Friday afternoon, but at Franklin View, this was no ordinary afternoon. Twelve dedicated and inspiring women were honored for their impactful work within their respective industries during the 2023 AL DÍA "Women of Merit" Awards.

The honorees are broken into five categories — Corporate, Education, Nonprofit, Public Service, and Entrepreneurship. 

For Corporate, the honorees were:

• Rebecca Acevedo - Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate Communications, WSFS Bank
• María Garcia -Vice President District Manager, KOHL’S

For Education, the honorees were:

• Michelle Lopez - Director of the Institute for Community Engagement and Civic Leadership, Community College of Philadelphia
• Latesha Beasley - Vice President of Operations, Girard College

For Nonprofit, the honorees were:

• Rosalind Pichardo - Founder, Operation Save Our City
• Leslie Patterson-Tyler - Vice President, Program Communications and Partners, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc.

For Public Service, the honorees were:

• Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz - Pennsylvania State Representative, 129th Legislative
• Joy Huertas - Senior Deputy of Communications, City of Philadelphia

For Entrepreneurship, the honorees were:

• Gabriela Watson-Burkett - Award-winning filmmaker, producer and multimedia journalist, and co-founder of ¡Presente! Media!
• Ana Omana - Writer/Author, Founder, Latin America Thrives

For Emerging Leader, the honoree was:

• Erika Guadalupe Núñez - Executive Director of JUNTOS

And for Lifetime Achievement, Sara Manzano-Diaz, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, was recognized for her significant and distinguished public service work on both the state and federal levels. 

Congratulations to the winners and to those who were nominated. 

Among those in attendance were the Honorable Nelson A. Diaz; Joanna Otero Cruz, Executive Director and President of Women Against Abuse; Miguel Martinez-Valle of NBC 10/Telemundo 62; and Raquel Arredondo, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.

For more events throughout the Philadelphia region, go to www.aldianews.com