La Ceiba
La Ceiba () is a municipality, the capital of the Honduran department of Atlántida (department), Atlántida and a port city on the northern coast of Honduras in Central America. It is located on the southern edge of the Caribbean, forming part ...
,
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
) is a television
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, producer, motivational speaker and autism advocate.
Early life and education
Dunia has 2 brothers Orlando and Carlos Elvir. She is the oldest, Orlando is 5 years younger and Carlitos (as Dunia calls her younger brother) is 8 years younger than her. Her mother took under her care two of her cousins; Claudia and Maricela who became the sisters Dunia always wanted to have.
Growing up in Barrio La Isla in La Ceiba, Dunia used to play soccer and "bate" (baseball) in the street.
Dunia was 6 years old when her father bought her first microphone and radio. Dunia enjoyed playing and pretending to be an announcer.
At 15 years old Dunia was sent to Los Angeles, California to live with her maternal grandmother. She went to Jordan High School in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and earned her high school diploma as an ESL (English as a Second Language) student. Later on she earned her broadcast degree in American Communication Institute in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
in 1991. Like many other immigrants, Dunia faced many challenges while trying to excel in her career. Dunia graduated with a limited knowledge of English. This and the lack of immigration documents prevented her from continuing with her higher education.
In 1992 her first son, Jesus was born. Jesus has autism, this made her chose home life in order to take care of him. In 1997 Dunia's second son Lalo (Eduardo) was born.
A few years later this first marriage had a rocky patch and the couple separated in July 2001, when Dunia left the house with her two children.
On April 12, 2003 Dunia married Carl Procida.
In December 2004 Dunia decided to start college, this idea was a mutual dream of her and her husband. While trying to accomplish their higher education as a couple Dunia
and Carl had two girls. Adrianna and Josieanna, came to make the relationship even stronger. By November 2008 Dunia and Carl graduated from University of Phoenix with a Bachelors in Business Management.
This educational goal gave Dunia the opportunity to grow within Telemundo. At this point Telemundo is not only providing Dunia with the opportunity to work, fulfill her dream profession but is also helping her to grow intellectually allowing her to go back to college and pursue her MBA, which Dunia completed in November 2011, and with her husband as her classmate.
Career
Elvir started her career in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
Radio in 1989. She later moved to KRCA Channel 62 in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
as reporter and TV news presenter.
Since 2001, she has worked for
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
in Los Angeles. She was also a correspondent on the TV program ''Cada día con Maria Antonieta'' (''Every day with Maria Antonieta Collins''). Actually Elvir also reports for Telemundo Network shows Levantate '' Al Rojo Vivo'', ''Noticiero Telemundo'' and the Los Angeles morning show "Buenos Dias".
In 2014 Elvir was the only female in California's gubernatorial debate between Governor
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
in Sacramento. This was the first time a Hispanic female served as a moderator in the Golden State gubernatorial debate.
Elvir also moderated the World Leaders event where Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
and
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elec ...
discussed immigration, education, politics among other topics.
She has interviewed
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
, Benicio del Toro, Sylvester Stallone,
Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek Pinault ( , ; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well as the ...
,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
,
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elec ...
,
Tony Saca
Elías Antonio "Tony" Saca González (born 9 March 1965) is a Salvadoran politician who was President of El Salvador from 1 June 2004 to 1 June 2009. He is currently serving a minimum 10-year prison sentence on corruption charges.
Early life
...
, former US treasurer
Rosario Marin
Rosario Marin (born April 4, 1958) is a Mexican-American politician who served as the 41st Treasurer of the United States from August 16, 2001, to June 30, 2003, serving under President George W. Bush. She is the first person since William Clar ...
, former
President of Honduras
The president of Honduras ( es, Presidente de Honduras) officially known as the President of the Republic of Honduras (Spanish: ''Presidente de la República de Honduras''), is the head of state and head of government of Honduras, and the Comm ...
Ricardo Maduro
Ricardo Rodolfo Maduro Joest (born 20 April 1946 in Panama) is a Honduran politician who served as President of Honduras from 2002 to 2006. A member of the National Party, Maduro was previously chairman of the Central Bank of Honduras. He gra ...
and his ex-wife
Aguas Santas Ocaña Navarro
Aguas Santas Ocaña Navarro (born 23 April 1963) is a former first lady of Honduras.
Marriage and first lady
Ocaña Navarro was the wife of former President Ricardo Maduro, marrying him when he was already President in October 2002 after meeti ...
Juan Orlando Hernandez
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
among other Latin America Presidents
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...
.
On 2006, she traveled to
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
to work on various special reports on
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
,
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
and
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. She also covered el Cucuy de la Mañana's "Votos por America" tour.
Dunia went to Mexico and report on the terrible accident at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006. In 2006, millions of people participated in protests over a proposed change to U.S. immigration policy, Dunia was in the heart on Los Angeles, CA covering this massive protest to the world as Telemundo Network Correspondent.
She also cover other significant events like 9/11, the 2008 historic U.S. Presidential election.
Recognitions
Elvir has received many recognitions because of her reports on human interest stories.
Elvir won 6 Emmy Awards in the last year's. She was also nominated for an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
in the category of Best Investigative Report in Los Angeles in 2001. She also won 2 "Golden Mike" one with her report ''Corners of Sin'' as the Best Investigative Report of the year and a second one with a special breaking news coverage.
Elvir has received various special recognitions from the Los Angeles City,
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
, the
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...
, she was awarded with a special recognition from the California State Assembly and members of the
US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...
.
She also won the
GLAAD Award
The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their l ...
in 2005.
She was invited as a special guest to visit the White House by The National Association of Latina Leaders (NALL).
In 2006, she received the "Distinguished Award Visitor" from the city of
La Ceiba
La Ceiba () is a municipality, the capital of the Honduran department of Atlántida (department), Atlántida and a port city on the northern coast of Honduras in Central America. It is located on the southern edge of the Caribbean, forming part ...
, where the 2006 Miss Honduras beauty pageant took place. Up until that point, she was virtually unknown in her own country.La Prensa – Sitio no encontrado /ref>
In August 2007, she received the "Journalist of the Year" Award in
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
at the "Toni Reyes Summer Festival" where over 70 thousand
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
s from different nationalities gathered to celebrate.
On September 20, 2007 she received from the Camara de Comercio e Industria de Tegucigalpa (Tegucigalpa Chamber of Commerce and Industry) the "Orgullo Hondureño en el Extranjero" Award for her community service and the positive impact to other Hondurans in the United States.
In 2008 Dunia's story "Danger in Hospitals" was selected by NAHJ (National Association of Hispanic Journalists) as the best Investigative report of the year, recognition she received in Washington D.C.
Dunia received the
Los Angeles Press Club
The Los Angeles Press Club is an American journalism organization founded in 1913. It honors journalists through its annual National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and SoCal Journalism Awards.
The Board of Directors includes the organi ...
Award for "Best Public Service Program", a 30-minute piece.
In 2011 Dunia was awarded with the "NBC Ovation Award" Above and Beyond distinction.
These are just few of the many acknowledgments Dunia has received during the last 20 years.