Cordoba Corporation was recently honored by the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) at its annual City of Justice Awards dinner on December 2, 2021. Cordoba Corporation’s Managing Partner Maria Mehranian accepted the prestigious award, which was presented to her by David Nahai, LAANE Board Member, former General Manager and Commission President of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and member of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.
LAANE recognized Cordoba Corporation for our ongoing efforts focused on “Making a Difference where we live and work” and our leadership in the development and passage of Measure W, Los Angeles County’s Safe Clean Water Program, which was approved by the voters in November 2018.
Founded in 1993, LAANE is a nationally recognized advocacy organization dedicated to building a new economy for all. Combining dynamic research, innovative public policy, and strategic organizing of broad alliances, LAANE promotes a new economic approach based on good jobs, thriving communities, and a healthy environment. The City of Justice Awards dinner is considered the premier progressive event in California honoring outstanding leaders and organization that help to improve the lives of working people and underserved communities. It attracts more than 1,000 attendees, including elected officials, labor leaders, philanthropists, entertainment executives, business owners and activists, each year.
Proceeds from this year’s City of Justice Awards “Here and Now” Dinner go directly to LAANE’s projects, which include legislative initiatives from creating green jobs and winning living wages to passing vital protections for working families across California that have been or are still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Other 2021 City of Justice Award honorees include Julie Su, United States Deputy Secretary of Labor and Former California Labor Secretary; Nancy Cotton, Executive Vice President, Head of Scripted Programming, EPIX; and Ron Miller, Immediate Past Executive Secretary, Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council.
Maria Mehranian’s City of Justice Award acceptance speech is provided below. Maria, a former chair of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control and a current member of the Delta Stewardship Council, is a water policy expert and she played a key role on behalf of Cordoba Corporation in building support and coalitions to secure the passage of Measure W.
“Thank You, David for that beautiful introduction. I want all of you to know that David Nahai was the first person who years ago inspired me to think about water quality and the importance of cleaning the water in this region and I will forever be thankful to him for his leadership. And, thank you LAANE for honoring us with this award. It means so much coming from an organization that has been a consistent champion for making Los Angeles a better place to live for everyone.
Let’s take a moment and reflect on this. “Making a Difference where we live and work”:
This is Cordoba’s leading phrase – this phrase encapsulates our commitment – as a fundamental guiding principle on how to think and act; it embodies our worldview, how we see ourselves as agents of change. It represents our approach which does not accept the status quo and continually challenges business as usual.
We strive to make the world a better place with our work that focuses on impact. In our case developing infrastructure that promotes economic development and raises the quality of life in our communities. How do we do this? By listening to people, assessing the future needs, helping to shape progressive public policies, and applying best technologies and resources to build projects that make a positive impact in communities.
Every day we work on projects that focus on equitable access to transportation, new ways we generate and distribute energy, strategies to use and reuse water finding new sources where every drop counts, while making sure that no community is left behind.
We are especially proud of our work with LAANE to develop and pass the Safe Clean Water Ballot Initiative in 2018. A measure that will capture and reuse stormwater to build green infrastructure.
It is also gratifying to be part of a company that appreciates and encourages us to volunteer for projects anywhere in the world to help bring our skills and resources to truly make the world a better place. Just a couple of years ago, I was honored to make a presentation at the United Nations about one of the volunteer activities that I am involved in – bringing clean and sustainable water infrastructure to rural women entrepreneurs in Armenia – a post-soviet, now democratic republic. It made me realize how important our work is – what we do here and now has ripple effects globally, and for generations to come.
The same desire to make our world a better place, was the vision when Cordoba was founded in LA in 1983 by George Pla. I’d like him to stand up, and would like you to give him a hand.
LAANE and Cordoba are in the same business-day by day, we are building the future of Los Angeles, And we are working together, Here and Now, to make sure that it’s a healthy future, a green future for everyone. There is a lot more work for us to do, and we look forward to doing it together.
Thank you and congratulations to all honorees.” – Maria Mehranian, Managing Partner, Cordoba Corporation
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