2016 Latina of Influence | Azucena Maldonado
2016 Latinas of Influence
Hispanic Lifestyle is pleased to recognize Azucena Maldonado as Founder & President, Latina Golfers Association (LGA) a 2016 Latina of Influence. Ms. Maldonado along with her fellow Latinas of Influence are invited to participate in Hispanic Lifestyle’s Latina Conference to be held on April 8, 2016 at the Ontario Airport Hotel, Ontario, CA. The complete listing of Hispanic Lifestyle’s 2016 Latinas of Influence can be found on Hispaniclifestyle.com
Azucena Maldonado is on a mission to transform women’s lives through golf. She founded the Latina Golfers Association (LGA) in 2008 to introduce Latinas of all ages to golf for their professional development, personal enjoyment, and to promote a healthy lifestyle. The LGA teaches women how to utilize golf as a business tool. What started as a passion and love of the game quickly turned into a movement with over 1,200 Southern California Latinas having participated in the LGA’s golf clinics, lessons, events, and tournaments.
Azucena teaches women how to break gender and cultural barriers through golf. From the East Coast to Texas to Miami, Atlanta and Southern California, Maldonado has shared her secrets of how to be welcomed into the elite “boys club” and break the glass ceiling with a golf ball. She has also organized golf clinics throughout the country for various Latino/a organizations including the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Televisa’s Hispana Leadership Summit. Recognized as a leader in the industry, Azucena has appeared in Golf Digest, Golf Business, PGA of America and the Southern California Golf Association’s FORE magazine, NBC Latino, New Latina, La Opinion, and Latina Style Magazine, to name a few. She will be profiled in the upcoming issue of Golf Legend, Arnold Palmer’s Kingdom magazine.
Azucena Maldonado
Sharing golf and the benefits surrounding the game with the Latino community is at the root of Maldonado’s passion. Her efforts have been recognized and validated by the nation’s premiere golf institution, the PGA of America. The PGA of America recently invited Azucena to speak at their annual conference as an expert in the field of how to grow the game of golf with women and Latinas. Most recently she spoke at the California Golf Course Owners Association’s annual conference in Napa in October 2014. Maldonado serves on the Player Development Committee of the PGA of Southern California and the Southern California’s Golfers Association’s Governmental Affairs Committee as well as the L.A. County Golf Advisory Committee. Maldonado was inducted into the Latino Sports Hall of Fame in 2013, received a Mujeres Destacadas award in 2012 from La Opinion Newspaper and was named a Woman of the Year “Mujer del Ano” by the Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in November of 2014.
An important component of the Latina Golfers Association is its outreach to young ladies. In its third year of operation, the LGA’s Golf In The Park program provides a free six-week, summer golf program at an East Los Angeles inner-city county park. This year, the program expanded to include a free six-week summer series of golf lessons at a local golf course. The LGA also created a golf mentorship program with the Roosevelt High School girl’s golf team. In addition to fundraising and providing golf clubs, equipment, and clothes for the girls, the LGA takes the girls on regular golf outings and provides them with a valuable mentorship experience.
