SACRAMENTO – Approximately 200 people were on hand Saturday evening to honor Assembly Member Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) at the 61st annual convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), held at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose.

Assembly Member Caballero received an award honoring her for her work with the Latino community on behalf of youth and youth adults. 

The recognition award was presented by Reverend Deacon Sal Alvarez, Evergreen School District Trustee Silvia Alvarez, and Argentina Davila-Luevano, State Director of the California chapter of LULAC.  Also on hand to celebrate the event were Arturo Rodriguez, President of United Farm Workers; and Rosa Rosales, president of the national LULAC organization.

“Anna Caballero has inspired us all with her life-long work for social justice and youth violence prevention”, said Davila-Luevano.  “She’s carried her passion for this work, and young people in particular, into her work as a legislator.

“She’s an example to us all.”

Caballero chairs the Assembly Select Committee on Youth Violence Prevention.  She held 5 hearings last year as part of select committee’s mission to develop a “tool kit” of strategies that communities can use to prevent youth violence, and intervene in the lives of young people that are at risk of becoming involved with gangs or other forms of youth violence.  The committee held one hearing in 2008 in San Francisco, focused on local programs that help develop youth leadership as a means of preventing violence, and plans at least two more in other parts of the state. 

Prior to her 2006 election, Caballero served as Executive Director of Partners for Peace, a Salinas-based non-profit focused on youth violence prevention.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is a political advocacy group for Latinos in the United States. Founded in 1929 in Corpus Christi, Texas, LULAC is the nation's oldest and largest Hispanic advocacy organization.