On Oct. 15, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Commission on Human Relations honored innovators and change-makers for their contributions toward transforming prejudice into acceptance, inequity into justice and hostility into peace within the communities of Los Angeles County. The John Anson Ford Human Relations Awards is an annual event honoring individuals and organizations that have significantly impacted human relations throughout the county.

“The individuals and organizations we recognize today are models for how we strengthen human relations in our county,” said Otto Solorzano, acting director of the Los Angeles County Department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services. “From providing safe spaces for LGBTQ youth and adults, to fostering greater understanding between people of different faiths, to reducing bias and bullying in our classrooms, these exemplary change-makers are transforming our communities.”

The awardees include Patricia Gándara, a research professor and co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, who won the Yvonne B. Burke Courage Award; Virginia Uribe, a science teacher and college counselor at Fairfax High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 42 years, who posthumously won the John Allen Buggs Leadership Award; West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore Lindsey Horvath, who has a long history of civic and social justice advocacy, including spearheading policies to make West Hollywood an age-friendly community and leading the city to become the first in the nation to impose financial sanctions on Arizona for its anti-immigration Senate Bill 1070 law; Jasmyne Cannick, who has been writing and speaking publicly since 2004 on issues around race, politics and society, including the recently arrested Ed Buck; as well as several others.

“At a time when hate crime has continued to rise, it is truly an honor to recognize these leaders and programs working arduously to improve human relations throughout our county,’” said Robin Toma, executive director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.