Longtime Valley leader Mel Wilson was named the recipient of this year’s Fernando Award at a gala dinner Nov. 3 at the Skirball Cultural Center.
The Fernando Award is considered the highest award for volunteer leadership and philanthropy in the San Fernando Valley and is a favored initiative of the business community. This is the 65th year of the award.
Wilson, a realtor who owns an eponymous company, was a founding member of the Valley Economic Alliance and is a past president of the United Chambers of Commerce in the Valley. He twice served on the Los Angeles Metro board and was a vice president of the Los Angeles Fire Commission. He ran for mayor of Los Angeles last year but lost in the primary.
Wilson also is the first All-American football player at California State University – Northridge. He went on to play for the New York Giants and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Wilson was nominated for the award by Lee Kanon Alpert, Bob Khalsa and Rich Pisani.
The other finalists for the award were Armida Colmenares-Stafford of Pacific Premier Bank; Steve Fazio, the president and owner of Fazio Cleaners and Laundry; Kevin Tamaki of Tamaki Consulting, and Sharon Udkoff, a certified public accountant.
“This year’s five finalists are great examples of people who have given much to our community as lifelong volunteers,” said Fernando Award Foundation Chair Pegi Matsuda. “Their contributions are substantial and long-lasting.”
In addition to honoring Wilson and the other finalists, the foundation cited three nonprofit board members as “Valley Heroes” during the awards dinner for their contributions to their organizations and the community. They were: Jan Maseda of the Tierra del Sol Foundation; Nicolas Montano of the Chatsworth chapter of the Kiwanis, and Adrian Stern of the Child Care Resource Center.
Finally, three students also received Youth Volunteer Awards for their nonprofit work. They were Audrey Hahn of Granada Hills Charter High School; Sean Hunt of Northridge Academy and Olivia Zhao of Granada Hills Charter.