Eva Longoria has been selected to receive the Ruderman Family Foundation‘s annual honor recognizing prominent cultural figures who do advocacy work on behalf of the disabled.
Longoria founded the organization Eva’s Heroes in 2006 to help those with intellectual disabilities. The cause is personal to Longoria, whose older sister Liza was born with an intellectual disability. In 2012, Longoria also established the Eva Longoria Foundation to help advocate for Latino women through education and entrepreneurship.
“I’m so honored to be recognized as the recipient of this year’s Morton E. Ruderman Award. My older sister Liza was born with an intellectual disability, so my mom instilled in all of us early on the importance of giving back to our community, which is why I founded Eva’s Hereos to provide a platform to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities around the country,” said Longoria.
The foundation’s Morton E. Ruderman Award is in its 10th year. The foundation promotes inclusion at all levels of society and advocates on behalf of other social justice issues. Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, said the award was established to honor the legacy of his father, a staunch supporter of rights for the disabled, who died in 2011.
“We look for people who are influential in society in terms of advocating for inclusion for people with disabilities,” Jay Ruderman told PvNew. “Eva certainly has done that with all the work she’s done and her personal experience with her sister.”
Putting the spotlight on a celebrity who works on behalf of disabled communities is key to raising broader awareness of the access and resource issues that remain for those who have special physical and mental needs.
“We’re trying to raise the idea in society in general about the importance of inclusion,” Ruderman said. “One way to do that is to give an award to someone who has taken their time and resources to do something positive in the world to promote inclusion.”
Past recipients include Olympian Michael Phelps, actors Taraji P. Henson and Marlee Matlin, filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly and former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.
Longoria is a multihyphenate who made her directorial debut earlier this year with the feature “Flamin’ Hot.” In October, she joined forces with Banijay executive Cris Abrego to launch Hyphenate Media.
The Ruderman Family Foundation distributes more than $10 million a year to various causes in the U.S. and Israel.
