Wendy Corona

Wendy Corona joined Channel 2 Action News in January 2013. She anchors Channel 2 Action News at 4pm and 11pm. Before the move to Atlanta, Wendy reported at WFAA in Dallas, Texas. She was an evening anchor at KPRC in Houston, Texas and before that, the morning anchor at Local 10, the ABC affiliate in Miami, Florida. After graduating from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, the California native began her broadcast career as a reporter in Yuma, Arizona followed by El Paso, Texas and Orlando, Florida. Wendy’s career has taken her to cities where the sun shines… and plenty of news happens! Wendy was working in Florida when connections to the 9/11 terrorist attacks were revealed and the contested 2000 Presidential election took headlines. She is most proud of her work as a reporter telling stories of humanity. Her favorite is a story with a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who resurfaced in West Texas. An investigation into abuses of the lightly regulated service dog industry earned her an Emmy Award. Wendy was in the inaugural class of Georgia’s 50 Most Influential Latinos by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The honor was repeated in 2021. Wendy is an active Board Member at Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School. As a breast cancer survivor, the mother of two is very vocal about women’s health initiatives, education and literacy projects and domestic violence. In her spare time, Wendy enjoys working out, hiking and traveling with her family and her most loyal pup, Bobbie.

Ana María Martinez

Biography

Ana María Martinez serves a judge in the State Court of DeKalb County. She was sworn in to this position on January 18, 2022 by Governor Brian Kemp, making her the first Latina to serve as judge in a court of record in the state of Georgia.

Prior to serving on the bench, she worked as a Staff Attorney for the DeKalb State Court (Division 6). She is also the founder and President of the Georgia Latino Law Foundation (“GLLF”), an organization she co-founded in 2015 to increase diversity in the legal profession by supporting the Latino legal community. The GLLF focuses on educating and empowering Latinos/as with an interest in the law. As President, she oversees the organization’s Law Day, Leadership Academy and Mentoring Program, Fellowship Program, and Virtual Judicial Internship Program.

Ana Maria dedicates her time outside of work to various legal and community organizations. She currently serves on the boards of the Georgia Hispanic Bar Association and the Judge Clarence Cooper American Inn of Court, where she is serving as President for the 2021-2022 bar year.

Her leadership in the community has been recognized through her selection to prestigious  programs such as Leadership Georgia, LEAD Atlanta, and the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Millennial Advisory  Panel, and through awards such as the Anti-Defamation League Southeast 2021 Emerging Leader Award, 2021 Award of Excellence for Dedication to the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia, 2019 Commitment to Equality Award from the Committee to Promote Inclusion in the Profession of the State Bar of Georgia, and 2019 Latinx Community  Impact Award from Emory Law School’s Latin American Law Students Association. In addition, she has been selected as one of the 50 Most Influential Hispanics in Georgia for the last three years. She has been recognized as a 40 Under 40 Award recipient for by Georgia State University (Inaugural Class, 2018), the Atlanta Business Chronicle (Class of 2016), Georgia Trend Magazine (Class of 2020), and most recently the University of Georgia (Class of 2021).

Ana Maria immigrated from Manizales, Colombia at age 12 and has been a resident of the metro-Atlanta area ever since. She received her B.B.A. in Marketing, cum laude, from The University of Georgia in 2004. She obtained her J.D., cum laude and with Pro Bono distinction, from the Georgia State University College of Law in 2009. Ms. Martinez is married to Mario Martinez, Jr. Together, they are the proud parents of Liliana (10) and Elena (5).

Doug Hooker, P.E.
Bio

Doug Hooker leads the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), the agency which facilitates community and development strategies to enhance the Atlanta region’s growth and competitiveness. Doug has had a long career in Atlanta, working from private sector companies and public agencies, including Georgia Power Co., BioLab Inc., the City of Atlanta, the State Road & Tollway Authority, and Atkins Global. He is active in his profession, currently serving as the President of the Executive Directors’ Council and as a member of the board of the National Association of Regional Councils.

Doug has been active in community organizations throughout his career, including many arts organizations. His board or advisory board service past and present include the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the Aurora Theatre, the Fox Theatre, Metropolitan Atlanta Community Band, the Ivan Allen College (of Georgia Tech), the School of City and Regional Planning (Georgia Tech), Emory University, the Atlanta Music Project, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera and many more. He has also served on the boards of Research Atlanta, the Regional Leadership Forum and the Civic League: all dedicated to providing community leaders and residents with data-based policy recommendations.

Doug is a frequent speaker for civic, nonprofit, and educational organizations around the region, the nation, and on occasion internationally. He is an alumnus of several leadership programs including Leadership Georgia, the Regional Leadership Institute, Leadership Atlanta, and the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership. Throughout his career, his professional and civic leadership has been recognized often.

Most recently, he has been inducted into the Georgia Trend Hall of Fame; he has received the Dean George Griffin Community Service award from the Georgia Tech Alumni Association; he has been awarded the ARC’s Harry West Visionary Regional Leadership award; the Championing Regional Diversity Leadership award from the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; the inaugural Aero Honors award from Aerotropolis Atlanta; the inaugural Regional Leadership Impact award from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s RLI program; the 2021 Most Admired CEO Lifetime Leadership Award from the Atlanta Business Chronicle. He also received the 2021 President’s Award from the National Association of Regional Councils for distinguished service to the profession, and the Donald C. Stone Outstanding Practitioner Award for the from the American Society for Public Administration.

He is a Distinguished Alumnus honoree from the Ivan Allen College, selected as 100 Most Influential Georgians, as 100 Most Influential Atlantans, and as 10 Most Influential Atlantans (Atlanta Tribune). He has been awarded the Lauren Solomon Trailblazer Award from the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), the Whitney Young Leadership Award from the Atlanta Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and an Excellence in City Government award from the Atlanta City Council. Doug has also been honored by the City of Atlanta with a Doug Hooker Day proclamation.

Hooker holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Technology & Science Policy degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology; he also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business.

As a musician, Doug has studied the oboe with Barbara Cook for many years, he has played in the Metropolitan Atlanta Community Band, sings with The Trey Clegg Singers. For many years he has composed music, including several large ensemble pieces for orchestra or band, works for small instrument groups, choral works, and songs. His first composition is the Sinai Symphony, which received its premiere in 2006, by the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra and has been performed several times since. One of his earliest choral works, Domine, Dona Nobis Pacem (“Gracious Lord, Grant Us Thy Peace”), was premiered by The Trey Clegg Singers in 2019 and has been performed several times since. In his retirement, he plans to continue his musical studies and creation.

Rogelio Lugo

Rogelio Lugo was born in Querétaro, Mexico and he grew up in a small town called Landa de Matamoros. He comes from a very down-to-earth family. When he was young, he migrated to the US with his father who passed away shortly after. Due to his father’s passing, Rogelio had to quit his studies at age 16 and provide for himself. The only people he knew then were construction workers. He struggled to find a job at first. But after years of hard work he was able to create his own company called Lugo Construcción.
In January of 2022, Rogelio reached out to the LAA and donated $10,000 to be disbursed directly to 10 LAA clients. We are so thankful for Rogelio’s generosity and spirit of giving.

Caitlin Webb

Caitlin Webb is the Adult Education Manager at the Latin American Association. In this role, she oversees the ESL, Spanish and Computer Literacy programs. Caitlin has a passion for creating impact through education. She earned her TESOL certification in 2010 and has continued to work and grow in the education field since then. Caitlin has taught English both in the United States and abroad. She served as a ‘Teaching English for Livelihoods Teacher Trainer’ in Peace Corps Colombia from 2014-2016. During her time there, she developed an extensive English curriculum and secured a USAID-funded grant to build a library and implement a reading program for the community. Her diverse experiences and background have allowed her to work within a variety of roles in the nonprofit world, though she always returns to education.

Caitlin holds a Bachelor’s in Spanish Language and Literature and a Graduate Certificate in Translation from Georgia State University and a Masters in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management from American University in Washington, D.C.

Caitlin volunteered for the Latin American Association since 2010 before securing a full-time position in 2020. She currently resides in Atlanta and hopes to continue learning, growing and serving through the LAA.

Cristo Rey Interns

Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School is a Catholic learning community that educates young people of limited economic means, of any faith or creed, to become men and women for and with others. Through a rigorous college preparatory curriculum, integrated with a relevant work study experience, students graduate prepared for college and life.

Georgia Power and The Coca-Cola Company

Cola-Cola’s golden legacy not only resonates through the fabric of Atlanta, but the fabric of the Latin American Association. They have been instrumental partners of the LAA’s for over 25 years. In recent years, Coca-Cola has focused its legacy at the LAA on women’s empowerment initiatives like the Latina Leadership Institute. Commonly known as, ¡Avanzando Juntas!, the Latina Leadership Institute provides a comprehensive program that encompasses several components of development and economic empowerment such as: Education, Employment, Microenterprise Development, and special training events such as the annual Latina Entrepreneur Conference. Coca-Cola continues its golden legacy through the women they empower through ¡Avanzando Juntas! as well as all of their other women’s empowerment initiatives around the globe.

Georgia Power’s golden legacy not only glows through the electrical infrastructure in our state but also through the support they’ve provided the Latin American Association over the past 40+ years. Georgia Power’s commitment to making a positive impact is obvious from the time when they first engaged the LAA in strategic dialogue in the early 1980s to better understand its customer service opportunities in the context of a fast-growing Hispanic population in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Their commitment to making a positive impact has helped the LAA and Georgia shape a bright future for us all.

It is with great pleasure that the LAA Board of Directors, leadership, and staff selected The Coca-Cola Company and Georgia Power Company to receive this year’s Compañeros Golden Legacy Award.