Adrian Z. Diaz has been a police officer for 11 years, working in a variety of capacities for the Seattle Police Department. The last three years, Officer Diaz has been assigned to special projects that focus on the reduction of youth violence affecting our minority communities. Prior to this, Officer Diaz was assigned to patrol, anti-crime team, undercover narcotic operations, and mountain bicycle patrol. He was also a Master Defensive Tactics instructor at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.

Officer Diaz holds a bachelor of arts in criminal justice from Central Washington University and a Masters in Public Administration from the Evans Schools of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. He has graduated from numerous leadership courses from the Cascade Center for Public Service as well as the Leadership and Effectiveness Institute.

Adrian volunteers with the following organizations:

• Chief Sealth High School, Assistant Wrestling Coach
• King County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Education Chair
• Greater King County Police Activities League, Treasurer
• Eastside Latino Leadership Forum, Board Member

2007 Recipient - Carlos Alaniz

Carlos Alaniz was born in 1966 in El Paso, Texas, but raised in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico until the age of twelve. In 1985, he graduated from an El Paso high school and joined the United States Army. After his service, he moved to Seattle where he completed his education at the University of Washington School of Occupational Therapy. He has worked for SeaMar Community Health Centers and currently works at Sisters of Providence Hospice Services where he directly serves the terminally ill and their families.

Carlos is a long time leader in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community as well as in the Latino community. He advocates for gay rights, including health care parity and adoption rights. Carlos is a role model, especially for young gay Latinos, who often face ostracism in their families and the broader community. He has helped many Latinos find support through organizations such as POCAAN (People of Color Against AIDS Network), Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Bailadores de Bronce, and Entre Hermanos, where he served on the board of directors.

Carlos has also been instrumental in the Fiestas Patrias at the Seattle Center as well as the SeaMar Fiestas Patrias Annual Celebration in South Park, which he chaired for over four years. 

For the past five years, Carlos has served as Director of Seattle’s Bailadores de Bronce Mexican Folk Dance Company and been a member for fifteen years. He has personally trained hundreds of dancers in the Seattle area and entertained thousands. Currently, he is organizing the 35th Anniversary Celebration of Bailadores de Bronce to be held at the University of Washington Meany Hall on November 3, 2007. 

His lifetime mission to celebrate Mexican culture is an inspiration.

2006 Recipient — Jacque Larrainzar with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights.

Jacque serves on numerous boards and committees in the areas of civil and human rights, immigrants’ rights, and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights. As a member of the board of NW Women’s Law Center, she has been instrumental in introducing a people-of-color perspective to a white institution. As an important member of Seattle’s Latino activist community, Jacque is unafraid to disagree with conventional wisdom and to advocate publicly in favor of pragmatic approaches to solving issues.

2005 Recipient — Mayra Ayala with the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle.

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