Miami Gardens, Fla. – Today, the Miami Dolphins announced their 2023 Inspire Change Changemaker Award recipient. Eduardo "Eddie" Garza will be recognized for going above and beyond in his pursuit of social justice as the Miami Dolphins take on the New York Jets as the NFL's designated Inspire Change game on Sunday, Dec. 17.
The Changemaker Award recognizes individuals in each NFL team market making a difference in their community across Inspire Change's four focus areas: education, economic advancement, police-community relations, and criminal justice reform. Eduardo "Eddie" Garza is the Director of the Mexican American Council (MAC) since 2017, whose work empowers farmworker families to successfully guide their children to a brighter future and quality of life, working to break the cycle of poverty through education and access to the arts, directly making an impact under the Inspire Change education and economic advancement pillars.
Under Garza's leadership, the Mexican American Council has become a pillar in the South Dade community. The organization's comprehensive service-delivery approach works to empower farmworker families providing their children opportunities by ways of education and access to the arts in an effort to break the cycle of poverty. MAC's multi-year commitment to at-risk youth is an investment in communities throughout the state of Florida. Since the organizations inception in 1990, over 11,500 children and their parents have participated in the council's programing and activities that include a college and career readiness program, an adult literacy program and family empowerment services. Their college and career readiness program supports and mentors primarily first-generation students to obtain a higher education. Their adult literacy and family empowerment services remove barriers to success for farmworker parents, providing the knowledge and skills needed to bridge the wealth gap by giving the necessary tools to play a more active role in their teenager's life.
"We are elated to recognize Eddie Garza as our 2023 Inspire Change Changemaker award recipient for spearheading efforts to improve access to quality education and drive economic advancement for families in the South Florida community," said Miami Dolphins Vice President of Community Affairs Kim Miller. "We are grateful for the hard work and dedication that Eddie pours into the organization and the families it serves, utilizing organizational partnerships to expand opportunities that directly influence the course of these families lives in an effort to break generational cycles."
As a Miami Dolphins Football UNITES partner since 2018, Garza has utilized the power of football to provide additional access to families that the Mexican American Council supports. In 2023, families from the Mexican American Council participated in several of the Dolphins' community initiatives including: the Delivering Hope event presented by City Furniture, where families were provided new beds and bedding at Hard Rock Stadium; a new air conditioning unit donation for a MAC family in Homestead, compliments of Air Pros USA; and students with ties to MAC participated in the Football UNITES Cultural Tour to the Historic Virginia Key Beach over the summer, which built awareness of the rich African American history of the Miami beach park. Throughout the years, the organization and those it serves regularly attend the Dolphins Football UNITES tailgate and participate in various events year-round.
In addition to receiving special recognition at the Inspire Change game, the Mexican American Council will receive a $10,000 donation from the NFL Foundation.
For more information on the 2023 Changemaker recipients, visit NFL.com/causes/inspire-change/changemakers.
