NJN’s William Sanchez Wins Golden Age Award

STATEWIDE – NJN Public Television and Radio is pleased to announce that William Q. Sanchez received the 2006 Effective Leadership Golden Age Award from the Latino Gerontological Center on June 22, 2006. The award was presented at the Fourteenth Golden Age Awards Annual Banquet, which took place at The Inter Continental Hotel, The Barclay in New York City.

The Golden Age Awards are given annually to individuals who have made significant contributions to the Latino/Hispanic Community. In addition to the Effective Leadership Award given to Sanchez, other Awards this year included a Public Service Award to United States Senator Robert Menendez and a Community Service Award to Arnold Diaz of FOX 5 – NY.

Sanchez joined NJN in 1979 and is the Executive Producer of Images/Imagenes and the NJN Hispanic Youth Showcase. Images/Imagenes is an award-winning cultural and public affairs program and has the distinction of being the longest running Hispanic affairs program in the public broadcasting system in the nation. Sanchez was also the director of the Emmy Award-winning Sembrando El Futuro (Seeding the Future), an NJN series that taught parenting skills to Latinos.

Sanchez has received several Emmy Award nominations from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, with Images/Imagenes earning NJN’s first New York Emmy Award in 1985. He is also the creative and motivating force behind the NJN Hispanic Youth Showcase, an annual program that gives Hispanic youths throughout the state an unparalleled opportunity to demonstrate their talents and win scholarships. In the year 2000, the program received its first Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award, following three years of Emmy Nominations.

Among the many awards Sanchez has received in 2006 are a Certificate of Special Senate Recognition for outstanding and invaluable service to the community from US Senator Robert Menendez; the Shining Lights Award for Excellence in Hispanic Media Production and Community Education from the New Jersey Mental Health Institute; a Certificate of Commendation from the Office of the Mayor of the City of Camden; and a Voice of the Community Award from the Hispanic Family Center of Southern New Jersey. He was also honored in 2006 with a joint Legislative Resolution by the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly and with a State of New Jersey Executive Department Proclamation from Governor Jon Corzine.

A graduate of Rutgers University in Newark with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts, Sanchez also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Essex County College. He resides in Belleville, New Jersey.