Zoe Saldana will be the recipient of the 2018 Excellence in Leadership Award. Zaldana will receive the honor at the National Convention of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), which will be held in Philadelphia in September.

The Excellence in Leadership Award honors an extraordinary woman who has devoted her professional career and personal life to revolutionizing the world of business, education, philanthropy, or government.

Saldana will join a long list of previous honorees, including:

• Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi
• Cindy McCain, philanthropist, humanitarian and wife of Arizona Senator John McCain
• Seven-time Grammy Award-winning music artist and businesswoman Gloria Estefan
• Renu Khator, President of the University of Houston and Chancellor of the University of Houston System
• Jessica Alba, actress and founder of The Honest Company

Starting her acting career during the early 2000s, Saldana has been nominated for dozens of awards, winning several. For her role as Neytiri in the 2009 film Avatar,” Saldana won both the Empire Award and Saturn Award for Best Actress. She also won the Teen Choice Movie Actress Award for her role as Gamora in “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2” (2017).  

Last year, Saldana launched BESE, a new digital media company. Among other initiatives, its mission includes representing communities that have been left out of mainstream discourse, celebrating identity, and generating conversation about what America means to all communities in the country, as well as broadening and reshaping popular narratives by celebrating untold stories of today’s changing America, Saldana stated on BESE’s official site.

“From critically acclaimed movies to female empowerment initiatives, Zoe Saldana is a role model for all who seek to follow in her footsteps,” Fernand Fernandez, USHCC Interim president and CEO, said in a press release.

The USHCC National Convention is the largest networking venue for Hispanic businesses in America. Founded in 1979, it has brought more than 4.3 million Hispanic owned businesses to the forefront of the national economic agenda. More than 200 local Hispanic chambers of commerce from across the country will be in attendance, offering the opportunity to establish strategic long-lasting business partnerships.

The convention will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown from September 16 through 18, 2018.