UNION BANK AND KPBS HONOR SAN DIEGO LATINOS AS LOCAL HEROES

San Diego, CA, September 15, 2015 – In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and as part of its ongoing commitment to cultural diversity and responsible banking, Union Bank has partnered with KPBS to honor two outstanding Latinos as local heroes. The 2015 Hispanic Heritage Month honorees are: Karemi Alvarez, MPH, senior manager at the University of California, San Diego Center for Community Health and Enrique Morones, founder and president of Border Angels. They will be recognized in September at a private dinner celebration with their families and executives from KPBS and Union Bank.

Since 1998, KPBS and Union Bank have collaborated on the Local Heroes program and recognized more than 200 honorees. The program pays tribute to exemplary leaders who are making a difference and enriching the lives of others by improving their community, region and the world at large. The 2015 Hispanic Heritage Month honorees demonstrate a shared commitment to providing their communities with the tools to thrive in today’s changing world.

In addition to the Hispanic Heritage Month local heroes, honorees were recognized during Black History Month (February); Women’s History Month (March); Jewish American Heritage Month (May); Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (May); LGBT Pride Month (June) and will also be recognized during Disability Awareness Month (October); and American Indian Heritage Month (November).

“Union Bank is proud to recognize the contributions of these local heroes who have generously given their wisdom, time and resources to enrich our communities,” said Pierre P. Habis, Head of Union Bank’s Consumer and Business Bank. “Their passion for improving our communities is admirable.”

“KPBS is excited to join Union Bank as we recognize these incredible local heroes,” said Tom Karlo, KPBS general manager. “Each of the honorees has made a unique and valuable contribution to the San Diego community.”

The 2015 honorees for Hispanic Heritage Month are:

Karemi Alvarez, MPH, is the senior manager at University of California, San Diego Center for Community Health. Ms. Alvarez manages the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) at the Inland Desert Training and Resource Center and the faith-based Wellness Program at University of California San Diego Center for Community Health. She has worked with many organizations including Physical Activity Collaborative (NAPAC) and Communities, Adolescents, Nutrition, Fitness (CANFIT) promoting health and social equity for underserved communities through health policy advocacy, community and media collaboration. During her tenure as the University of California San Diego wellness programs supervisor, she coordinated the California Department of Public Health Latino 5-a-Day Campaign which successfully encouraged more than 100,000 Latinos to eat healthy and be active. Ms. Alvarez is a 2014 recipient of the San Diego Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Award. She holds a degree in Communication with emphasis in Advertising from San Diego State University and a Master of Public Health from University of California, Berkeley.

Born in San Diego, Enrique Morones is the founder of Border Angels, a volunteer organization whose mission is to reduce the number of fatalities occurring along the border by placing water stations in the desert. Mr. Morones’s profound love for Mexico instilled by his Mexican parents helped guide his lifelong passion for social justice and love of the culture. His past accomplishments include serving as the first two-term president of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and as a vice president with the San Diego Padres. Currently, he also serves as the president and founder of House of Mexico in San Diego’s Balboa Park which promotes Mexico’s art, culture and history; and is the director and founder of Mexico’s Border Commission. Mr. Morones was recognized as one of the 100 most influential Latinos in the USA by Hispanic Business Magazine. Mr. Morones graduated from the University of San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in International Marketing and has masters in Executive Leadership.

KPBS features a wide range of programming during Hispanic Heritage Month (September/October). For more information or to nominate a future local hero, please visit: www.kpbs.org/heroes or unionbank.com/heroes.

About KPBS

KPBS serves our local communities with news and entertainment programming that respects our audience with inspiring, intelligent and enlightening content. KPBS will deliver this content via multiple outlets, including television, radio, and digital media and will adapt and remain relevant in a rapidly changing world. KPBS values integrity, truth, transparency and lifelong learning. At KPBS we strive to engage with our citizens and showcase the unique neighborhoods and people that make our community thrive. And as a public service of San Diego State University, education is a core value – from our children’s programming to our local news coverage. KPBS is committed to being a reliable source for in-depth, thoughtful, and high quality content.

About MUFG Union Bank, N.A.

MUFG Union Bank, N.A., is a full-service bank with offices across the United States. We provide a wide spectrum of corporate, commercial and retail banking and wealth management solutions to meet the needs of customers. We also offer an extensive portfolio of value-added solutions for customers, including investment banking, personal and corporate trust, global custody, transaction banking, capital markets, and other services. With assets of $113.5 billion, as of June 30, 2015, MUFG Union Bank has strong capital reserves, credit ratings and capital ratios relative to peer banks. MUFG Union Bank is a proud member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE: MTU), one of the world’s largest financial organizations with total assets of approximately ¥284.9 trillion (JPY) or $2.3 trillion (USD)¹, as of June 30, 2015. The corporate headquarters (principal executive office) for MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation, which is the financial holding company and MUFG Union Bank, is in New York City. The main banking office of MUFG Union Bank is in San Francisco, California.

1 Exchange rate of 1 USD=¥122.45 as of June 30, 2015.