WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) -- a coalition of the nation's most respected community-based organizations -- honored 26 professionals at the 2009 HACR Young Hispanic Corporate Achievers(TM) (YHCA) Program. The awards reception was held at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, DC and hosted by Altria Group (Altria.)

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091021/CL96625)

"Altria and its companies are proud to continue our partnership with HACR in helping strengthen the pipeline of leaders in our organizations and in the communities where we live and work," said Ara Shepard, Associate Director of Diversity, Altria Client Services. "Therefore, we were delighted to be the proud host of the 2009 HACR YHCA Program."

Candidates from across the country were nominated by their respective companies and selected after a review of their accomplishments, established leadership qualities, industry expertise, education and employment experience, as well as a demonstrated commitment to their communities. The candidates are between 25-40 years of age, of Hispanic heritage and employed by a Fortune 500 or HACR corporate member company.

"In today's economic climate when corporations are downsizing and reducing costs at every turn, it is encouraging to see the level of commitment and investment these companies represent through their candidates in this year's HACR YHCA Program," said HACR President & CEO, Carlos F. Orta. "HACR has always believed a company's success is determined by the diverse talent they recruit and retain. This is why we developed the HACR YHCA Program and we will continue to highlight the progress being made by a growing number of corporations."

The 2009 HACR YHCA class is comprised of 21 managers/directors and five vice presidents within Corporate America. Of the 26 finalists, 22 have master's degrees, 25 have bachelor's degrees, and combined, serve on 32 non-profit boards resulting in 4,017 hours of volunteer community service. Collectively, this year's class represents 14 states and the District of Columbia.

The 2009 HACR YHCA honorees are:

Eastern Region:

Mario Acosta-Velez, Verizon, Washington, DC

Raul Duany, The Western Union Company, Sunrise, FL

Alex Galeano, AARP, Washington, DC

Dexie Garcia, State Street Corporation, Boston, MA

Luis Lacouture, Merck & Co., Inc., North Wales, PA

Hector Lopez-Camacho, State Street Corporation, Boston, MA

Alejandro Nieto Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ

Manuel Sampedro, Verizon Communications, Rosedale, MD

Rose Velez-Smith, Pitney Bowes, Inc., Stamford, CT

Central Region:

M. Martin Alvarez, Dell, Inc., Round Rock, TX

Selene Benavides, Dell, Inc., Round Rock, TX

Sergio Contreras, AT&T, McAllen, TX

Domingo Cruz, The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI

Jaime De La Cruz, Marathon Petroleum Company LLC, Saint Paul Park, MN

Irma Diaz, PepsiCo, Inc., Chicago, IL

Jason Garcia, Northern Trust, Chicago, IL

Joseph Hernandez, Northern Trust, Houston, TX

Anthony Martinez, BNSF Railway Company, Forth Worth, TX

Jose Munoz, Aetna, Inc., Chicago, IL

Marisia Parra-Gaona, AT&T, Dallas, TX

Western Region:

Derek Garcia, MillerCoors, Golden, CO

Lilia Herrera, Union Pacific Railroad, Los Angeles, CA

Trini Jimenez, BNSF Railway Company, Long Beach, CA

Adriana Mendoza, AARP, Pasadena, CA

Jason Perez, Kindred Healthcare, Westminster, CA

Clara Ponton, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA

(Regional photos also available at: www.hacr.org)

SOURCE HACR