The University of Arizona boasts students who excel in academia, athletics and every aspect of life.
For the second consecutive year, a local philanthropic group known as the PowerHouse is celebrating 10 volunteer superheroes with the Wildcat Heroes Award.
Recipients include Lola Arvizu, Brian Belakovsky, Romina Beltran Perez, Maki Bispham, Matthew Burke, Jairo Flores, Natalie Hopkins, Neve Johnson, Jack Miller, and Brianna Robles. For their outstanding service to the community, each Wildcat Hero recently received $1,000; the Hero of Heroes, Maki Bispham, received an additional $5,000.
Seed money — and inspiration — for the award was gifted by Carmen Bermúdez, who founded Mission Management & Trust in 1994 as the first woman- and minority-owned trust company in the United States. She has been recognized locally, nationally, and globally for her accomplishments and, since selling the business in 2022, has been channeling her work ethic into philanthropy. The Wildcat Heroes Award is a result of that.
People are also reading…
“I was watching CNN Heroes, and they had a Hero of the Week, and I thought, ‘How about if we donate money for Arizona students who have jobs and also volunteer?” With technology, kids are into staying home and playing games on their computers. Instead of doing something that goes nowhere, we want to encourage them to interact with people and give back,” said Bermúdez, 80.
Bermúdez began giving back to students more than 20 years ago by mentoring interns through her business. By 2018, that had evolved into the PowerHouse. The group of 10 students and young professionals meet monthly to learn from community leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals.
“Our initial activities were based on meeting influential people with powerful minds. We want to make a difference and the leaders we meet have made a difference in Tucson. We pick their brains and try to channel the knowledge we gain into bettering the community, and one way to do that is by recognizing University of Arizona students who go above and beyond the call of being students. Most of them work and juggle responsibilities of adulthood and still find time to complete their studies and volunteer,” said Javier Dominguez, president of PowerHouse and owner of Fast Prints USA, which focuses on large format printing and assisting small businesses in promoting their messages through creative printing.
Dominguez, who is also pursuing a dual MBA/MSBA from Eller College of Management, said that working with the University of Arizona Foundation to implement the award has been a great experience.
This year, 273 students submitted applications; individual criteria includes a minimum of 10 volunteer hours weekly for six months.
“We are students recognizing the greatness of other students. We pride ourselves on taking the time to look at other students who are doing extraordinary things and we are excited to make the Wildcat Heroes Award a long lasting tradition here at UArizona,” Dominguez said.
Bermúdez and her husband, Tom Feeney, are grateful to be in a position to contribute to that tradition.
“I was born very poor in Costa Rica. .. and came to Los Angeles with my mother, where I worked seven days a week to help bring my siblings to America. I know what it is and how it feels to be poor and hungry. It warms my heart and gives me great satisfaction to be able to give back,” said Bermúdez.
