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Latina queen and Baby Santi's proud mamá, Eva Longoria, is looking to make sure that the world is a better place for the Latinx community. She is seeking to teach her son with husband Jose "Pepe" Baston through her actions and not just her words. On Thursday, December 5, Eva along with Ricky Martin (and a few other celebs) were being honored by the Global Gift Foundation at their annual gala at the Eden Roc in Miami Beach for their tireless philanthropic works throught their respective foundations.
HOLA! USA caught up with the leading lady on the carpet where she shared how she feels that the best way to teach her son Santi how truly important giving back can be is by 'walking the walk.' She hopes to set an example for him that he will grow up seeing and hopefully follow in her footsteps one day (albeit with different shoes).
The Eva Longoria Foundation seeks to capacitate Latinas who are seeking to further their education and seek entrepreneurial roles within their communities, while the Ricky Martin Foundation has worked for 20 years to combat child human trafficking. The Eva Longoria Foundation has also partnered with Century 21 to help provide scholarships to women who would like to pursue their real estate license, as well as other programs that will help benefit women and the communities around them.
Along with her "philanthropy husband" (aka Ricky), they hope to continue working together to bring awareness to causes that are close to their hearts. Also being honored that night, was famed Colombian singer, Carlos Vives, who sang a few lines of his song La Tierra del Olvido at the end of his speech. Reporter and fellow #bosschica, Ana Navarro, was also being honored. During her speech she cracked a few jokes, gushed on Eva and reminded everyone that "we all have the ability to affect change."
HOLA! USA: How are you looking to instill all the values that come with living a life of philanthropy into your son Santi?
Eva Longoria: "I don’t believe that you can tell your children what to do, you have to show them. I think by me doing my work and doing what I always do, he’s going to see that giving back is an important part of life. I hope to set an example for him that hopefully he’ll be able to follow. You have to be the example."
As an American-born Latina, how do you define being bi-cultural?
"I am Mexican-American, so I stand between two cultures I love. I’m so proud of my Mexican culture, my heritage and language. But I’m very American, and so it is hard to navigate that identity sometimes. I think that sometimes when you celebrate both cultures, instead of trying to be more of one or the other, that’s where you succeed."
With your level of recognition comes a lot of responsibility, how do you make that work?
"I try to use my platform for good — much like tonight where I am looking to bring attention to causes that are near and dear to my heart."