Outstanding Americans by Choice

Otto Padron, President, Chief Executive Officer of Meruelo Media, Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve, Los Angeles, CA

Otto Padron is president and chief executive officer of Meruelo Media, the fastest growing minority-owned media company in California. Its broadcast portfolio holds some of the most legendary brands in the Los Angeles markets including the oldest independent Spanish language television station in the United States, KWHY-TV 22, along with the world-famous classic rock station KLOS 95.5 FM.  Before joining Meruelo Media, Padron was senior vice president of programming for Univision Television Network, the leading Spanish language network in the United States.

At the age of eight years old, Padron and his family left their native Cuba for Madrid, Spain to escape the communist regime. The Padron family moved to the United States when Padron was 11 years old, settling in Miami, FL.  Padron was born into a television family. His dad was a broadcast engineer, but Padron preferred to focus more on the creative and executive side of television.  To create a different path for himself, at the age of 20, Padron began a military career that afforded him new and bolder opportunities for growth.  This path provided Padron the unique opportunity to repay his newly adopted country for the generosity that embraced his refugee family. 

He spent four years as a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger in the renowned 75th Ranger Regiment and six years in the Florida National Guard as a Special Forces operator.  Today, Padron is a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve with over 38 years of combined military service. He’s an infantry officer with a distinguished service record in some of the most demanding active-duty units in the Army.  Currently he serves as the Deputy Division Commander of the 91st Training Division in Fort Hunter Liggett, CA.  For his accomplishments, Padron was selected, recognized, and featured in a U.S. Army “Strong” campaign as one of America’s top Hispanic leaders.

Padron holds a master’s degree from the Army War College in Carlisle, PA.  Among his most notable awards, Padron has a Bronze Star Medal, a Ranger tab and the Combat Infantry Badge for valor in combat during the Iraq War.  He holds a double Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Communications and Economics from the University of Miami FL and is a Worlds Ahead Graduate of Florida International University’s Chapman School of Business with a master’s degree in Business Administration. Otto is married to Mexican actress, Angelica Vale and has four children.

Albert Gamil Eskalis, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Albert Gamil Eskalis joined U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in 2014 and currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Citizenship and Applicant Information Services. Eskalis came to USCIS after a 26-year career as an active-duty Marine. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1988 and attended basic training at Parris Island, S.C. He was later commissioned as a Marine officer and completed his service as a senior communication strategist in the Pentagon. Eskalis served in multiple combat deployments, including Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and numerous tours in the Asia/Pacific region. He is a native of Alexandria, Egypt, where he lived with his parents and sister until they immigrated to the United States in 1979. Eskalis spent his formative years in New York and New Jersey, where his father Gamil and mother Bahgah worked tenaciously to create opportunities for their family and help the communities they now called home. He has been married to Lourdes Eskalis for 30 years, and together they have a son Ryan and twin daughters Rebecca and Ashley.

Major General (Retired) Viet X. Luong, Frisco, TX

Major General (Retired) Viet Luong emigrated from Vietnam with his family to the United States in 1975 as a political refugee, upon the fall of Saigon. He received his commission as a U.S. Army Infantry Officer upon graduating from the University of Southern California in 1987, serving on active duty for the next 34 years until his recent retirement. Throughout his career, Luong had commanded at the rifle platoon to flag level and participated in numerous operational and combat deployments, including OPERATION UPHOLD DEMOCRACY (Haiti), OPERATION JOINT GUARD (Kosovo), OPERATION AMERICAN ASSIST (Hurricane Katrina Relief), OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM 06-08 (Samarra, Iraq), OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM 10-11 (Eastern Afghanistan), and OPERATION FREEDOM'S SENTINEL/NATO RESOLUTE SUPPORT (Kandahar, Afghanistan). Outside of combat, Luong also served in several critically important strategic assignments, including tours as the Deputy Director for Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell, where he assisted the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in shaping national policy for the region, and Army G-8 Director of Joint and Integration, where he was responsible for the Army Modernization Strategy and facilitating the Army Requirements Oversight Council (AROC). Most recently, he had served as the Commanding General of U.S. Army Japan, from 2018 to 2021. In this capacity, he effectively operationalized his command and improved U.S. Army force posture in Japan in the face of superpowers competition against near-peer adversaries in the region. He also worked closely with the Japan Ground Self Defense Force to improve interoperability and assist the latter in enhancing its lethality, capabilities and capacity in the defense of Japan. Just as important, Luong promoted a culture of trust, dignity, respect, and inclusivity throughout his command.

Luong holds a Bachelor Degree in Biology from the University of Southern California and a Master of Military Arts and Science from the Army Command and General Staff College. In 2012, he attended Stanford University as a National Security Fellow, where he focused on U.S.- China Policy under the tutelage of Former Secretary of Defense, Dr. William Perry. In addition to his military awards and recognitions, he is a recipient of the 2010 Daughters of the American Revolution's Americanism Award, 2016 Andrew Carnegie Great Immigrant, 2021 Japan Imperial Order of the Rising Sun Gold and Silver. He is married to the former Kimberly Lau of Denver, Colorado. They have three children, daughter, Ashley, and sons, Brandon and Justin.

The Honorable Rya W. Zobel, Senior United States District Court Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Boston, MA

Nominated by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, the Honorable Rya Zobel became the first woman to be named to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, taking senior status in 2014.

As a child, Rya Zobel grew up in Nazi Germany. She was born in 1931, the first child of Paul Wiechart, a German who worked for a printing and publishing company, and his Hungarian wife, Elsie. In 1945, Russian troops arrested Zobel’s father, and she never saw him again. As he was being taken away, he tasked Zobel to take care of her mother and younger brother. A few hours later, soldiers took her mother away. She spent 10 years in Russian prisons and prison camps. Friends helped the two children and, when relatives who lived in what had become West Germany learned what happened, they arranged for the children to be brought to their aunt’s home in Coburg.

When their two Hungarian American uncles, who lived in New York, received word of these events, the older one hurried to Germany to help. He quickly began the process of bringing the children to the United States. It was not seamless, but on January 3, 1947, the children embarked on the SS Ernie Pyle for the passage to the United States. The former troop ship was, on this occasion, filled with refugees. It was a stormy thirteen-day voyage, but when the ship arrived in New York harbor all the passengers were on deck to salute the Statue of Liberty. To this day, Zobel remembers being greeted by the Statue of Liberty upon her entry into the United States.

Zobel and her brother lived with their uncle and his family on Long Island and were immediately enrolled in school. They also had to speak only English at home. After two-and-a-half years, Zobel had mastered the English language, graduated from high school, and enrolled in Radcliffe College. She was one of a few women to graduate Harvard Law School in 1956. She was among the first women to become partners in a major Boston law firm, Goodwin, Procter & Hoar. In 1979 she became the first woman appointed an Article III judge to any court in the First Circuit, and later, the first woman Director of the Federal Judicial Center, established by Congress in 1967, in Washington, DC. In September, 2020, Zobel received the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award, the first-ever woman District Judge to win the award.

Although Zobel became an American citizen over 70 years ago, she still feels the pride of citizenship that she articulates when she administers the oath of allegiance to new immigrants during naturalization ceremonies. She encourages new citizens to “maintain vigilance, preserve the liberty of this country, and participate in the government.” Since the new citizens now “have a stake in the self-government of this country,” she urges them to exercise their right to vote.

Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, U.S. Capitol Police
Washington, DC

Sgt. Aquilino Gonell is an officer with the U.S. Capitol Police. On July 27, he testified before Congress about the events that took place on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol Building. In his emotional testimony before the House Select Committee, Sergeant Gonell joined three other officers in denouncing the attackers and detailing the violence they faced that day.

Sergeant Gonell immigrated from the Dominican Republic in 1992. He was the first in his family to graduate college, join the U.S. Army, and become a police officer. He has proudly taken the oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States several times throughout his life – first when he joined the U.S. Army, when he became a U.S. citizen, when he joined the Army Reserve, and most recently, when he was promoted to sergeant with the U.S. Capitol Police.  He said on January 6, he fulfilled his commitment to the United States one more time by defending the U.S. Capitol and members of Congress.

Sergeant Gonell served in Iraq with the U.S. Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Even with the threat of bomb-filled roads, he volunteered to conduct supply missions for U.S. and allied forces and local Iraqi schools. On January 6, while on American soil, he said he was more afraid of the violence that took place at the Capitol than he ever felt while serving in Iraq.

Hours into the attack on the Capitol, Sergeant Gonell later learned that his wife and relatives were trying to desperately contact him, but it wasn’t until 4:26 p.m. that he had a chance to text his wife to let her know he was alive. He made it home at 4:00 a.m. the next day and only four hours later, at 8:00 a.m., he was already on his way back to the Capitol. He continued to work for 15 consecutive days until after the inauguration of President Joe Biden.

Sergeant Gonell sustained multiple injuries and was hit with so much chemical sprays that the liquid soaked through to his skin. Sergeant Gonell had right foot and left shoulder surgery and is recovering from his injuries today.  He believes the investigation into the events that occurred at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6 is essential to our democracy.

Sandra Lindsay, Director of Patient Care Services for Critical Care, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Northwell Health
New Hyde Park, NY

Sandra Lindsay is the Director of Patient Care Services for Critical Care at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center. She knows first-hand the health impacts COVID-19 has had on her patients. When she first heard that companies were working to create a vaccine for COVID-19, she remembers telling her friends and family that she would be the first in line to take it. In December 2020, Lindsay indeed became the first person in the United States to get the COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials. 

During the height of the pandemic, Lindsay recalls working alongside her team for long hours trying to save critically ill patients who were fighting for their lives against the coronavirus. Keeping up with the volume of patients was difficult. At home, she had her newly born grandson who was born prematurely. Fearing she might infect him, she did what any loving and protective grandmother would do—she kept her distance to keep him safe.

Lindsay understands that many people are still skeptical about the vaccines and the speed at which the vaccines were developed. However, she believes that proper measures were taken to make sure the vaccines are safe and effective. She says the COVID-19 vaccine is the country’s best defense against fighting the coronavirus and encourages others to trust the science.

Lindsay came to the United States in 1986 at the age of 18 and always knew that she wanted to become a nurse. She describes graduating from nursing school as the proudest moment of her life. Since then, she has earned a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and recently, a doctorate in health sciences. Ms. Lindsay became a naturalized citizen in 1997.

Immaculée Ilibagiza, Author and Motivational Speaker
New York, NY

Born and raised in a small village in Rwanda, Immaculée Ilibagiza enjoyed a peaceful childhood with her loving parents and three brothers. She attended the National University of Rwanda to study electrical and mechanical engineering. While visiting her family on Easter break in 1994, Ilibagiza’s life was completely transformed. On April 6 of that year, the Rwandan President’s plane was shot down over the capital city of Kigali. This assassination of the Hutu president sparked months of massacres of Tutsi tribe members throughout the country.

Immaculée found shelter at a pastor's home, where she and seven other women hid in a small 3x4 foot bathroom for 91 days. Filled with anger and resentment, Immaculée turned to prayer using the rosary beads that her devout Catholic father gave her before she went into hiding. This was a turning point in her life. In addition to finding peace, she also taught herself English using only a Bible and dictionary. When Immaculée was finally liberated from her hiding place, she weighed only 65 pounds and found her entire family had been brutally murdered, with the exception of one brother who was studying abroad.

In 1998, Immaculée emigrated from Rwanda to the United States. She worked for peace through the United Nations and shared her story of survival with co-workers and friends who had encouraged her to write about her experience. Immaculée’s first book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (2006), became a New York Times bestseller, sold over 2 million copies, and has been translated into 20 languages. Her story has also been made into a documentary titled, The Diary of Immaculée (2006).

Immaculée has received five honorary doctoral degrees and published multiple books about her faith and her life. Today, she is regarded as one of world's leading speakers on faith, hope and forgiveness. She has shared this universal message with world leaders, school children, multinational corporations, churches, and at events and conferences around the world, including a presentation to over 200,000 people in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A major motion picture version of  her story is scheduled for international release in 2022.

Sandy Hoa Dang
Co-founder and Principal, Coinnovate Consulting
Washington, DC

Sandy Dang is co-founder and principal of Coinnovate Consulting in Washington D.C., which provides leadership training programs for corporations, nonprofits, governmental agencies, and academic institutions. Dang has cultivated a team of professionals to build the next generation of leaders. Her passion is to help young people maximize their leadership potential to benefit society.

At ten years old, Dang and her ethnic-Chinese family fled Hanoi, Vietnam, and spent weeks at sea between China and Hong Kong, only to end up in a series of refugee camps. Over three years, she received no formal education. At thirteen, she and her family resettled in the United States in 1981, first in Salt Lake City, Utah, then in Brooklyn, New York. Because of her personal experiences and the hardship that she endured in a new country, Dang has devoted her career to empowering young people. For more than a decade, she served as founder and executive director of Asian American Leadership, Empowerment, and Development, an organization that supports immigrant and refugee families through a broad array of educational and social services.

In 2011, President Barack Obama appointed Dang to serve on the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), and from 2014-2018 she served as executive director of VEF, a special initiative by the U.S. Congress to strengthen bilateral relations between the United States and Vietnam through educational exchanges related to science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, and technology. During her tenure, Dang established a leadership development program helping hundreds of VEF Fellows.

Dang holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Duke University, a Master of Social Work from Catholic University of America, and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. In addition to English, she is fluent in Cantonese and Vietnamese.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang
Chief Executive Officer and President, Boat People SOS
Falls Church, VA

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang first joined Boat People SOS (BPSOS) in 1988 as a volunteer. In 1995 he launched an advocacy campaign that resulted in the resettlement of over 18,000 former boat people from Vietnam to the United States. In 1997, Dr. Thang initiated a long-term effort to build capacity for the Vietnamese American community. He has since built BPSOS from a small, all-volunteer organization into the largest Vietnamese American non-profit organization. BPSOS has operations in half a dozen locations in the United States and a regional headquarters in Southeast Asia and has a vast Vietnamese-language media network. Simultaneously, Dr. Thang has mentored over 50 faith-based and community-based organizations and secured $4 million to support their work.

Since 1989, Dr. Thang has testified before Congress on human rights issues, most recently in 2018, where he raised awareness of Vietnam’s imprisonment of 170 religious and political prisoners of conscience. For the past two decades, Dr. Thang has launched many national and international initiatives, including Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers and Center for Asylum Protection, that provide legal aid to refugees and asylum seekers in the first asylum countries; Coalition to Abolish Modern-day Slavery in Asia, which has rescued or assisted in the rescue of 11,000 victims of sex and labor trafficking in 20 countries; the Disaster Relief and Restore Program, which has helped tens of thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina (2005), the BP Oil Spill (2010), and Hurricane Harvey (2017), among others; the Renewing Democracy Fund, which trains young leaders and encourages Vietnamese American participation in American politics. Dr. Thang has received numerous awards for his contributions to the United States, refugee populations, and global human rights.