Two Exceptional Women honored by Girl Scouts of Texas Concilio
Girl Scouts of Tejas Council is proud to announce the two exceptional women who will be honored at the upcoming Real Girls. Real Women. Awards Luncheon. Mavis Knight and Elvia Wallace-Martinez will be recognized as Real Women for exemplifying courage, confidence and character and for making the world a better place. Two outstanding young women will also receive Real Girls awards during the luncheon.
The selection panel included last year’s honorees, Texas State Senator Florence Shapiro and American Red Cross Dallas Area Chapter CEO Cheryl Sutterfield-Jones, along with community leaders Sue Ann Gilman, Esther Ferre, Marty Marks and Barbara Van Riper.
Mavis Knight, Secretary of the State Board of Education, is a longtime community champion with more than 30 years of volunteer service working with civic and education organizations to provide mentoring and other services to youth, families, and senior citizens. Elvia Wallace-Martinez, Executive Director and Founder of DCET/Believe in Yourself, Inc., pioneered the first Hispanic Marketing Agency in Dallas/Fort Worth, designed a radio talk show, “Debes Creer en Ti” (“Believe in Yourself”), broadcast in major Dallas/Fort Worth Spanish radio stations, and writes for several Spanish language publications.
The Real Girls. Real Women. Awards Luncheon, honoring current Girl Scouts and outstanding women in our community, is slated for Tuesday, November 14, 2006 at the Westin Park Central Hotel, and will feature keynote speaker Cary J. Broussard, author of From Cinderella to CEO. Mistress of Ceremonies is Clarice Tinsley, KDFW-TV Fox 4 News Anchor.
Individual tickets are $100 per person and sponsorship opportunities are available. Proceeds support Girl Scouting in the north Texas area. For sponsorship opportunities or to purchase tickets, visit www.register-for.com/girlscouts or contact Leone Lain at (972) 349-2426, llain@tejasgsc.com.
About Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts of the USA is the world’s pre-eminent organization for girls, with a membership of more than 3.8 million girls and adults. Today, as when founded in 1912, GSUSA helps cultivate values, social conscience, and self-esteem in young girls while also teaching them critical life skills that will enable them to succeed as adults. Girl Scouts of Tejas Council serves more than 36,000 girls and over 13,000 adults in 21 Northeast Texas Counties. To volunteer your time or make a donation to the Tejas Council call (800) 442-2260, extension 2426 or visit www.tejasgsc.org.
BIOGRAPHY:
Elvia Wallace-Martinez has been extraordinarily active in the Dallas Hispanic community for decades. She pioneered the first Hispanic marketing agency in the Dallas/Fort Worth area from 1983 until 1995. Utilizing her expertise in the Spanish Communications and Marketing fields, she designed a radio talk show called, in Spanish, “Believe in Yourself.” “Debes Creer en Ti” was broadcast on major local Dallas/Fort Worth Spanish radio stations. The rate of success and scope of this talk show expanded the outreach toward Hispanic/Latino families through local TV and newspaper columns.
Presently she is the Executive Director and Founder of DCET/Believe in Yourself, Inc. (a SER-Jobs for Progress, Inc, national affiliate.) DCET is an educational, cultural and charitable 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that assists Hispanic/Latino immigrants by providing mentoring programs for youth, children and their families, promoting leadership, virtues, and family values. Under her direction, DCET offers various literacy programs, including ESOL, Spanish Literacy, Computer classes and others. The organization also features FAMA (Folkloric Arts Mentoring Amigos); the approach of this youth mentoring program is to guide youth and their families to become productive members of society. The same idea is tied into DCET’s third initiative: Valores Familiares, which is a program of Spanish parenting skill workshops and mentoring sessions. All of this has led to the most extended Information and Referral system available in Spanish.
Honestly, integrity and sincerity are some of the accolades attributed to Wallace-Martinez and her delivery of a caring message to help non-assimilated, non-acculturated Hispanics. She has 25 years’ experience in the field of communications, and she is listed in the 1996-1997 edition of Gale Research’s “Who’s Who Among Hispanic Americans.” She has been featured on English and Spanish TV networks and various local Dallas English and Spanish media.
Wallace-Martinez is a columnist for El Sol de Texas, El Heraldo News, El Catolico de Texas, La Estrella de Fort Worth, and El Hispano News. Dallas Mayor Laura Miller granted her the “Excellence in Education” Award in September 2004.
Wallace-Martinez was born in Acapulco, Mexico, from Peruvian parents. She immigrated to Dallas, TX in 1977. She is married to Manuel A. Martinez and has a 20-year-old son, Alejandro Manuel.
