710 Locust Street Knoxville, Tennessee 37902 November 26, 2007
NEWS RELEASE The Knoxville Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is pleased to announce Ms. Patricia Inés Robledo will be the recipient of the 2007 FBI Director's Community Leadership Award. The media is invited to attend the ceremony on Monday, November 26, 2007 at 10:00 a.m., in room 126 of the John J. Duncan Federal Office Building located at 710 Locust Street in Knoxville. This prestigious award, which was established by the Director of the FBI in 1990 to publicly recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations actively involved in community crime prevention, is given annually to one individual or organization from each of the FBI's 56 field offices. The 2007 Knoxville Division recipient, Ms. Robledo, was selected based on her strong participatory involvement and dedication to multiple public service organizations reflecting her commitment to the furtherance of terrorism, crime, drug, gang, or violence prevention/education at the local, state, or national level. Her demonstrated commitment to the citizens of East Tennessee and the law enforcement community makes her an obvious choice for the award. Ms. Robledo's efforts within the community's school system are reflected through her work with the Lonsdale Elementary School/Project GRAD. The Lonsdale school system is an inner city school with several high-risk and disadvantaged youth. As a volunteer within the Lonsdale community, she helps bridge the communication and cultural gap with Guatemalan families in the Lonsdale Community. Project GRAD's mission is to ensure a quality public school education for students while also encouraging graduation from high school and college. Ms. Robledo also serves as a member of the Knox County Racial Disparity in School Discipline Task Force, an effort to examine allegations of racial disparity in community schools. Ms. Robledo's extended involvement and dedication in the business community includes serving on the Board of Directors and as the past President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of East Tennessee (HCCET). The HCCET promotes and facilitates the success of Hispanic businesses in the east Tennessee community. In addition to her above described accomplishments, Ms. Robledo also contributes significantly to the Knoxville community through her involvement in the following organizations: The East Tennessee Community Design Center Board of Directors East Tennessee Civil Rights Working Group Member YWCA Knoxville Board of Directors HoLa (Hora Latina) Board of Directors TAPIT - Tennessee Association of Professional Interpreters and Translators Founding Member Knoxville Medical Missions Interpreter Leadership Plenty Graduate Leadership Knoxville Graduate Knox County- Racial Disparity in School Discipline Taskforce Member East Tennessee Foundation Member Leadership Knoxville Member Knox County Public Libraries Volunteer American Red Cross Volunteer