CHICAGO, Jan. 6, 2025 — Betty Balli Torres, executive director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, and civil rights attorney Danny Ortega are the 2025 recipients of the inaugural Impacto Award, sponsored by the American Bar Association Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities
The award will be presented Jan. 31 at the Diversity Awards Reception during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Phoenix.
The Impacto Award honors an individual or organization that has impacted efforts to remove the significant legal, socio-economic, linguistic and other barriers to social justice and civic engagement facing Latinos in the U.S.
What:
ABA Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities Impacto Award
When:
Friday, Jan. 31 at 6-8 p.m. MST
Where:
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, 3rd Floor, Phoenix Ballroom B
As executive director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, Torres has worked to remove barriers faced by the Hispanic community and other vulnerable populations in the state. Under her leadership, the foundation grants tens of millions of dollars each year to approximately 35 legal aid organizations across Texas to provide basic civil legal services to low-income families as well as crime victims, veterans, those experiencing homelessness and sexual assault survivors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Torres collaborated with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to secure more than $40 million in emergency funding to prevent evictions for Texans impacted by the crisis.
A national advocate for Hispanic legal rights, Torres served as past chair of the ABA Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities and past chair of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas. She received her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law.
Ortega, a nationally recognized lawyer and civil rights advocate, has promoted democratic principles and fairness, including for farm workers and immigrant communities, throughout his career. He also has advocated for Latino elected officials and combated legislation that hurts the Hispanic community.
Ortega served as chairman of the Arizona Industrial Commission for 11 years where he led efforts to adopt regulations that eliminated the short-handled hoe, which forced farm works to work bending over, resulting in serious and disabling health conditions. The commission issued a ruling prohibiting the use of hoes with handles less than 4 feet long. He also led the effort to adopt field sanitation regulations that require growers to provide clean drinking water, individual cups and toilets for farm workers in the fields.
Ortega holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a J.D. from Arizona State University.
For media registration, contact Shanda T. Ivory at [email protected].
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