The Latin Recording Academy® announces the inaugural Leading Ladies of Entertainment event to honor and celebrate women excelling in the industry

MIAMI (November 10, 2017) — The Latin Recording Academy® is announcing a new event for Latin GRAMMY® Week: The Leading Ladies of Entertainment, which will recognize women excelling in the arts and sciences, and who have made indelible impressions and contributions to the Latin entertainment industry. The ceremony will be held at the iconic Mastro’s Ocean Club in the Crystal Mall on Tuesday, Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.

The event will precede the 18th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards®, which will be broadcast live on the Univision Network from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday Nov. 16 from 8–11 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. Central).

2017 Leading Ladies Inaugural Class Recipients Include:

• Marcella Araica, Recording/Mixing Engineer, Vice President N.A.R.S Records/Dream Asylum Studios
• Leila Cobo, Executive Director of Content & Programming for Latin Music & Entertainment, Billboard
• Erika Ender, Singer/Songwriter, Composer, Producer, Television Personality
• Rebeca Leon, CEO and Founder of Lionfish Entertainment
• Gabriela Martinez, General Manager Warner Music Latina & SVP Marketing Warner Music Latin America
• Jessica Rodriguez, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Univision Communications Inc.

"It is my pleasure to welcome this new event to Latin GRAMMY Week, where we will have another opportunity to celebrate talented and inspiring individuals," said Gabriel Abaroa Jr., Latin Recording Academy President/CEO. "Women face a myriad of difficulties in the entertainment industry, but despite those obstacles, the women we are honoring have continually demonstrated perseverance, fortitude, and grace under pressure."

"This recognition is important, as there is a sizeable gender gap in the entertainment industry, which is even more pronounced for Latinas. Acknowledging this issue raises it to the top of public consciousness, and allows us to celebrate and learn from a diverse array of women who are leading and succeeding in their respective fields," said Davina Aryeh, Chief Marketing Officer of The Latin Recording Academy, an industry trailblazer in her own right. "We want to empower and inspire women, not only through the symbolic importance of the event, where both men and women will be showing their support for this issue, but also through the tangible financial contribution it will have as we donate proceeds back to our Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation in the form of scholarships for young women interested in studying music."

Leading Ladies will be one of the many impactful highlights of Latin GRAMMY week. The event is sponsored by top-tier brands including Walmart, Google, and Nielsen, all of whom foster and support the growth of women, and who have a vested interest in the advancement of women in the arts, entertainment and beyond.

Walmart comes on board as an inaugural sponsor of the Leading Ladies luncheon as part of their "Get Together" campaign, which supports inclusion, diversity and kindness. Walmart and the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation will also join forces for a joint scholarship that will be dedicated to further the contributions of women in Latin music.

Google will showcase the latest exhibit featuring Latino contributions from Google Arts & Culture, Latino Cultures in the US, taking guests through an immersive VR experience using Google Cardboard.

Nielsen helps clarify the facts by providing statistics from the recently released report, Latina 2.0 Fiscally Conscious, Culturally Influential & Familia Forward, which highlights how Latinas are rapidly becoming an economic and social powerhouse in the US—further amplifying the importance of celebrating successful Latinas in today’s entertainment industry.

The ceremony will be hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist and Univision co-anchor Pamela Silva-Conde. Attendees will include diverse and influential men and women from various fields and an exclusive red carpet will begin at 12 p.m.

Net proceeds from the event will go toward the charitable work of the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation®, whose mission is to further international awareness and appreciation of the significant contributions of Latin music and its makers to the world’s culture through scholarships, fellowships, grants, and educational programs.

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ABOUT THE LATIN RECORDING ACADEMY
The Latin Recording Academy is an international, membership-based organization comprised of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking recording artists, musicians, songwriters, producers and other creative and technical recording professionals. The organization is dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for Latin music and its makers. In addition to producing the Latin GRAMMY Awards to honor excellence in the recorded arts and sciences, The Latin Recording Academy provides educational and outreach programs for the Latin music community either directly or through its Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation®. For more information about The Latin Recording Academy, please visit LatinGRAMMY.com

ABOUT THE LATIN GRAMMY CULTURAL FOUNDATION
The Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation® was established by The Latin Recording Academy to promote international awareness and appreciation of the significant contributions of Latin music and its makers to the world’s culture, and to protect its rich musical legacy and heritage. The Foundation’s primary charitable focus is to provide scholarships to students of Latin music with financial needs, as well as grants to scholars and organizations worldwide for research and preservation of diverse Latin music genres. For more information about the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation, please visit LatinGRAMMYCulturalFoundation.com.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

The Lippin Group on behalf of The Latin Recording Academy:
Jennifer Price: JPrice@lippingroup.com
Elina Adut: EAdut@lippingroup.com
Freddy Morales: FMorales@lippingroup.com
323.965.1990

The Latin Recording Academy:
Teresa Romo: teresa.romo@grammy.com
310.392.3777
Iveliesse Malave: Ive@grammy.com
305.576.0036