María Elena Salinas honored with 2006 Intrepid Award.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) recently announced that María Elena Salinas, Univision’s Emmy-award winning co-anchor of “Noticiero Univision” (Univision News), will be awarded the 2006 Intrepid Award. In recognition of her inspiring career as a journalist and her life-long support for Hispanic issues, especially women and immigrants, Salinas will be honored at a gala in Washington, DC, on September 14th.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Intrepid Award,” said Salinas. “I feel privileged to join the NOW family of past recipients, all women who I respect and admire for aspiring to raise the standard and make a difference in various disciplines.”

Each year, NOW and the NOW Foundation give the Intrepid Award to women in a variety of fields whose lives epitomize the dictionary definition of the word “intrepid” – resolutely courageous, fearless, and bold. Past recipients have included White House correspondent Helen Thomas, labor leader Dolores Huerta, playwright Eve Ensler, astronaut Mae Jemison, comedian Margaret Cho, primatologist Jane Goodall, among others.

“We are honored to present the Intrepid award to Emmy-award winning, veteran journalist, Maria Elena Salinas,” says Olga Vives, Executive Vice President for NOW. Vives, an ardent supporter of Hispanic rights adds, “Ms. Salinas was chosen because she represents all that is good in journalistic advocacy, asking the tough questions and getting answers on issues important to women and Latinas and Latinos in the United States. We honor Ms. Salinas as a woman who is making a difference for Latinas and for all women, families, and the underrepresented in our society.”