Moises Echeverria

Photo Credit: MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

Achieving respect and understanding
for all people through education,
advocacy and dialogue.

Moises Echeverria knows about being an outsider. He was 13 when his family moved to Tulsa from Monterrey, Mexico. He spoke no English and knew no one outside his immediate family. Within a few years, he found himself in Tulsa’s own “Tower of Babel" -- East Central High School. Kids from all sorts of ethnic and social backgrounds go to East Central, and Echeverria was right in the middle of it.

Today, in 2016, we are pleased to announce that Moises has been selected as one of the 2016 winners of the Oklahoma Human Rights Award.

The 31-year-old Echeverria is the President / CEO for the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice, and active in a number of community organizations. Echeverria worked his way through school at Tulsa Community College and Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. He is close to achieving U.S. citizenship. Now he helps others fit into a society that he knows from firsthand experience both welcomes and scorns outsiders.

OCCJ’s mission -- and Echeverria’s -- is to cool the rhetoric through programs that foster cross-cultural understanding and dialogue.

You're invited to attend the presentation of the 2016 Human Rights Awards on Saturday, December 10th, in the House Chamber of the Oklahoma State Capitol. The program will begin at 10am. It will be emcee'd by former State Representative Seneca Scott. There is no charge to attend. Following the awards program, you are invited to enjoy a Free Speech Forum in the Senate Assembly Room from 12 Noon to 2pm.

Every year, the Oklahoma Human Rights Awards are co-sponsored by the Oklahoma City chapter of the United Nations Association and the Oklahoma Universal Human Rights Alliance.

Previous winners of the award include educators, physicians, students, and community volunteers from many different communities and all walks of life. They are united by their enduring commitment to the values and principles expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more information about the awards program, please contact Wilfredo Santosrivera, 405-631-3027.