When AVFS lost a founding member of its organization, Jackie Hoffner, the Board gathered and activated to create an award in her honor: the Jackie Hoffner Heart & Hope Award. I am humbled to be a member of the committee charged with developing the award and selection criteria, and so pleased to announce our inaugural recipient: Malinalli Lopez.
Malinalli personifies the key attributes outlined by the committee:
- Heart – A willingness to give of themselves and the ability to inspire others.
- Passion – A profound and unrelenting commitment to the project.
- Social or Community Impact – An explicit intention to drive positive change.
- Optimism – The belief that their work will contribute to a stimulating and sustainable future/create lasting value.
As AVFS ED Kathryn Hecht explained, “Malinalli is a filmmaker, professor of Chicano Latino Studies and American Multicultural Studies at Sonoma State University, and an active Board member of the Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma County. She teaches filmmaking workshops to underserved youth. She founded XQL media, a company dedicated to creating films that feature themes that explore critical social issues. She is currently working on at least two documentaries: one exploring the lives of Latinx immigrants, and the other on the impacts on developmentally disabled residents from the closure of the Sonoma Developmental Center.”
Malinalli received the award on closing night of the Fourth Annual Alexander Valley Film Festival, presented by Jackie’s husband, Barry Hoffner.
Congratulations Malinalli!