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Carillo honored as woman of year

Tribune file photo (2007)

"It makes me very happy that this community has appreciated her work this way," says Maria Ester Carrillo's widowed husband Francisco Carillo.

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By CLOE CABRERA

ccabrera@tampatrib.com

Published: July 4, 2009

TAMPA - Each year, the board of directors for Tampa Hispanic Heritage pours through dozens of nominations to select the Hispanic Man and Woman of the Year.

But this year, only one name came up for Woman of the Year. Everyone wanted to honor Maria Esther Carillo, a Hispanic activist who died May 28 when she was walking in Miami and was struck by a truck involved in a two-vehicle accident. Her daughter, Liliana, who was with her, is still recuperating in a Miami hospital.

"She put her heart and soul into educating children of their Hispanic culture," said Luz P. Lono, chairwoman of the gala committee. "It's wonderful to see the community responding this way about her."

Carillo and Hispanic Man of the Year Frank Cisneros will be honored Sept. 26 at the 22nd annual Tampa Hispanic Heritage gala at the Hyatt Regency Tampa Hotel.

Carillo's husband, Francisco, and her children hope to be on hand to celebrate.

"It makes me very happy that this community has appreciated her work this way," Francisco Carillo said. "Maria was very focused in her work with children. But when it came to awards, she was very humble. The first thing she would have done upon learning of the award is celebrate with her children."

A native of Colombia, Carillo moved to Tampa 12 years ago. In 1998, she founded the Taller Inter-Cultural Hispano Americano program to help first-generation American children with Hispanic parents learn about their culture, develop leadership skills and boost self-esteem.

She launched Taller after seeing her two American-born children, Liliana and Daniel, lose touch with their Colombian roots.

She told The Tampa Tribune in 2004 that her children spoke little Spanish and her Carrollwood neighborhood wasn't very diverse. Despite trips to her homeland and visits to cultural celebrations, the children showed no interest in their Hispanic roots.

"They never felt it," Carillo told the Tribune. "Children born in another country see it and experience the culture. When they are born here, you can tell them about it, but they don't understand it the same way."

Carillo launched Taller with five children who met at a home with three dance instructors. Over the years, hundreds of students from dozens of nationalities took part in the workshops.

She told the Tribune she hoped to reproduce the program in other parts of the city and state.

"We want our students to understand and respect who they are so they can start to understand and respect who everybody else is," she said.

Carillo also founded the Hispanic Festival of Tampa and co-founded the Hispanic Alliance of Tampa.

Man of the Year Cisneros is well-known for his efforts raising money for scholarships for Hispanic students at the University of South Florida, and for his work on numerous boards, including the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

A native of Cuba, Cisneros is president of Westshore Holdings Inc., a real estate investment and development company, co-owner and director of Certified Records Management, a document imaging and information management company, and director of Pan American Interactive Communications and American Telemetry, a wireless communication company that allows users to monitor and control electronic devices from remote locations.

In 2008, he was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame, Florida Council on Economic Education.

Reporter Cloe Cabrera can be reached at (813) 259-7656.

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