The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission will hold its Annual Dinner on Friday, September 6, at 7 p.m. at The Centre. The keynote speaker will be Chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Martin R. Castro.
Mayor Lloyd Winnecke will present the 2013 Mayor’s Celebration of Diversity Awards at the Annual Dinner. The awards recognize businesses, organizations and individuals that embrace and celebrate diversity. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, August 23, 2013. To make a nomination, please go to www.evansville.in.gov/diversityawards or contact the Human Relations Commission at (812) 436-4927.
Ticket donations are $30 per person. Corporate sponsorships are also available. Please contact the Human Relations Commission at (812) 436-4927 before August 28 to make a reservation.
Mr. Castro was appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in January 2011. In March 2011, President Obama elevated Mr. Castro to the position of Chairperson of the USCCR, making him the agency’s eighth Chair since the formation of the Commission and the first Latino Chairperson in the history of the USCCR.
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Marty Castro is the President and CEO of Castro Synergies, LLC, which provides strategic consulting services to corporations, entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations that seek to collaborate with and have a positive social impact on diverse communities.
In December 2009, Mr. Castro was appointed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to Chair the Illinois Human Rights Commission, the state public body that arbitrates complaints of civil rights violations in housing, employment, public accommodations and financial credit.
Mr. Castro is on the board of directors of the National Museum of Mexican Art, the only accredited Latino Museum in the United States. He also serves on the board of the Chicago Community Trust. Mr. Castro is also chair and co-founder of New Futuro, LLC. Mr. Castro is a former national board member of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and former chair of the Hispanic National Bar Association’s U.S. Supreme Court Committee. Mr. Castro is also the former chair of the Judicial Nominations Commission for the Northern District of Illinois, by appointment of U.S. Senator Richard Durbin.
Mr. Castro has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the National Medical
Fellowships’ Humanitarian Award; the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Cesar Chavez
Humanitarian Award; the Edwin A. Rothschild Civil Liberties Award from the American Civil
Liberties Union of Illinois; and the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Association of Corporate Counsel, Chicago Chapter. Mr. Castro is the proud product of Head
Start and affirmative action in higher education. He received his B.A. in political science in
1985 from DePaul University and his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1988. Mr. Castro was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Roosevelt University in December 2011 for his work in the area of social justice.
