NAMIC To Honor National Hispanic Foundation.

NAMIC, the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications, in partnership with Comcast, will bestow its highest honor, the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement Award, on the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) during the 18th Annual NAMIC Conference. NHFA is being honored for its work to increase the number of Latinos working in all facets of the media, telecommunications and entertainment industries. Actors Jimmy Smits, Sonia Braga, Esai Morales and attorney Felix Sanchez founded NHFA in 1997.

The Mickey Leland Award was created in 1992 to honor Congressman Mickey Leland and his commitment to creating opportunities for people of color. It is given annually during the NAMIC conference to an individual or organization in the cable industry that works to advance the causes and concerns of people of color.

Past Mickey Leland Award recipients include George Herrera, former president and CEO, U. S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Russell Simmons, co-founder, Def Jam Records; Tavis Smiley, author and host, Tavis Smiley Show; Bill Richardson, former ambassador, United Nations; Kweisi Mfume, president, NAACP; and Alice Rains, mother of Congressman Leland.