2024 New York Awards Dinner

The SOAR! Board of Directors cordially invite you to the

38th Annual New York Awards Dinner

Join Us in Celebration!

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Reception 6:00 pm  Dinner 7:00 pm

TICKETS AND SPONSORSHIP | DONATE TO SUPPORT THE DINNER

HONORING:

2024 SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON AWARD
Mario J. Paredes
CEO, SOMOS Community Care

Mr. Paredes, a native of Chile, has over 30 years of experience as an executive in healthcare administration and is recognized as a leader in business development with nonprofits, governmental organizations and religious entities.

Since 2015, he has served as the CEO of SOMOS Community Care in New York City. The network includes over 2,5000 physicians and 800 providers.

Before joining SOMOS, Mr. Paredes was Vice President of Business Development at Merrill Lynch. He also served as personal advisor to John Cardinal O’Connor, Archbishop of New York. He was a consultant to the Justice and Peace Commission of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and the Latin American Commission of the Vatican. Mr. Paredes also founded and was the first director of the Regional Center established by the Catholic Bishops of the Northeast to care for Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Mr. Paredes is a Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Board for Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL), a member of the Board of Trustees at American Bible Society (ABS), a board member of the Latin American Catholic Leaders Organization, America Media, En Familia Radio, Notes for Growth, and a Director and former President of the North American-Chilean Chamber of Commerce of New York.

Mr. Paredes was created Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (K.G.C.H.S.) in 2012. The Holy See awarded him the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (“For Church and Pope) for service to the Catholic Church.

He earned his Doctor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., his Masters in Religious Education at Loyola University in Chicago, and undertook his postgraduate studies at Georgetown University

2024 FATHER VICTOR YANITELLI, SJ AWARD
Mother Dolores Hart, OSB
Abbey of Regina Laudis

Mother Dolores Hart, OSB, is a Benedictine nun at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem Connecticut. During her seven-year career in film and on Broadway she starred in ten films, most notably opposite Elvis Presley in Loving You and King Creole and Stephen Boyd in Lisa.  She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the Pleasure of His Company on Broadway.  

At the height of her career, Dolores stunned the world by making the decision to become a cloistered nun and entered the Abbey of Regina Laudis in 1963. “I just knew that this was what God wanted from me,” she said years later. Mother Dolores’ mission as an actress did not end, but rather took a contemplative turn. “I never felt I was ‘walking away from Hollywood'” she said recently. “I felt I was walking into something more significant and by that, I took Hollywood with me.” At first, her radical choice to enter a cloistered Abbey shocked and then inspired those who admired her as an actress and public figure. In collaboration with actors such as Academy Award winner Patricia Neal, Mother Dolores founded The Gary-The Olivia Theater at the Abbey in 1982. “It wasn’t until we started a theater on the Abbey land that I really could see how I could help young people find their vocation in Christ through the medium of the theater” she said. 

She is the recipient of two Honorary Doctorates: in Jurisprudence from Fairfield University in Connecticut and in Fine Arts from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. The HBO Documentary Film God is the Bigger Elvis about Mother Dolores’ life was nominated for a 2012 Academy Award in the Documentary Short category. Her acclaimed autobiography The Ear of the Heart: An Actress’ Journey from Hollywood to Holy Vows was released in 2013 and is now in its third printing.  Mother Dolores continues to inspire and encourage through the witness of her life given to God and generously shared with all by example and through love.   

For more information, please contact Jennifer Christiano, Director of Special Events at events@soar-usa.org.