2025 HONOREE

Ramón Rodríguez

A dynamic and versatile actor, Ramón Rodríguez Born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico has crafted a distinguished career in film and television. Rodríguez stars in the title character and is an executive producer on the ABC drama series “Will Trent,” based on Karin Slaughter’s bestselling novels. His role won him the Spotlight Award at the 2023 National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts Visibility Awards and also earned him a Critics Choice TV Award nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series, and Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series and an Imagen Award nomination for Best Actor – Drama (Television). The series’ first season’s success as ABC’s No. 1 new drama carried on to the second and third seasons.

Rodríguez was most recently seen starring alongside Viola Davis in the Amazon MGM Studios and MRC action thriller movie, “G20.” Previously, he has starred in several critically acclaimed television series, including HBO’s “The Wire” and Showtime’s “The Affair.” He also starred as the lead villain role of Bakuto in two installments of Marvel’s Netflix series “Iron Fist” and “The Defenders.” Rodríguez starred in Fox’s one-hour drama “Gang Related” as Ryan Lopez, a rising star in LAPD’s elite Gang Task Force who has also pledged allegiance to a different band of brothers – a powerful Latino crime family.

In 2009, he broke out in back-to-back action films, including “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” as Shia LaBoeuf’s wisecracking sidekick; Tony Scott’s “The Taking of Pelham 123,“ playing an MTA dispatcher with Denzel Washington; “Battle: Los Angeles” as the ambitious but inexperienced Lieutenant Martinez opposite Aaron Eckhart; in Dreamwork’s exciting homage to the great car culture of the 1960’s and 1970’s, “Need For Speed” opposite Aaron Paul, Michael Keaton and Imogen Poots; and Jordan Roberts film “Burn Your Maps” along with Vera Farmiga, Virginia Madsen and rising child star Jacob Tremblay, which premiered at TIFF in 2016. More recently he starred alongside Bryan Cranston in “The One and Only Ivan” for Disney+, as well as horror pic, “Lullaby,” from director John R. Leonetti.

In 2016, Rodríguez wrote and directed his first short film, “The Language of Ball,” which had an incredible festival run being accepted into 30+ film festivals including TIFF, LA Shorts, Holly Shorts, Vancouver, Edmonton and Woodstock, and was licensed by Topic and then released on Amazon.

He is deeply passionate about bringing attention to issues facing the people of his native Puerto Rico in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. He has spearheaded various relief efforts to help drive awareness, including directing the short documentary, “Pa’Lante,” which helped raise over $1 million toward this effort.

2025 HONOREE

Carlos Ponce

Award-winning actor, singer, songwriter, composer and TV personality, the multifaceted Carlos Ponce has enjoyed a storied career in the entertainment industry. Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Carlos made his acting debut at the age of six. Since then he has starred in numerous productions on small and big screens in his native Puerto Rico, Mexico and the U.S. The versatile actor is known equally for playing the dramatic lead in Latin telenovelas like Santa Diabla and Sentimientos Ajenos as he is for comedic turns in movies like Couples Retreat and recurring roles in sitcoms like 7th Heaven and Beverly Hills 90210. Ponce is also an accomplished voice actor, lending his vocal skills on movies like Rio and Ice Age: Collision Course.

Carlos’s musical career took off in 1998, when his self-titled debut album went Double Platinum and reached the top spot on the Latin Billboards. He has released six albums, winning Best Pop Album in 1999 and scoring three songs that topped the Latin Billboards. He also recorded “Bella Notte,” the end title song of the movie Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure.