--- title: HR 582. Morelli, Maritza; receiving the 2025 Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award; commend collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hr582 cite_as: HR 582, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr582 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr582.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr582/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71328 date: 2025-03-11 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-09-11 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr581.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr583.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 131 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr582.md?full=1 bill_number: HR 582 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-03-11 last_action: House Read and Adopted sponsors: - Shea Roberts - Esther Panitch - Karen Lupton - Betsy Holland - Deborah Silcox text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR582/2025 upstream_id: 2000276 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - ceremonial resolution - community leadership award - Latino community organizations - Georgia House of Representatives --- # HR 582. Morelli, Maritza; receiving the 2025 Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award; commend ## Text 25 LC 112 3279 House Resolution 582 By: Representatives Roberts of the 52nd, Panitch of the 51st, Lupton of the 83rd, Holland of the 54th, and Silcox of the 53rd A RESOLUTION Congratulating and commending Maritza Morelli for receiving the 2025 Yellow Rose Nikki1 T. Randall Servant Leadership Award; and for other purposes.2 WHEREAS, in 1999, Representative Nikki T. Randall became the fi rst African American3 female elected to the General Assembly from middle Georgia, and over her 17 years of4 service as a legislator, she held numerous leadership positions, including chair of the Georgia5 Women's Legislative Caucus; and6 WHEREAS, every year during Women's History Month, the Georgia Women's Legislative7 Caucus recognizes outstanding women in Georgia who exemplify th e leadership and8 inspiration embodied by Representative Randall; and9 WHEREAS, Maritza Morelli serves as the executive director and v isionary co-founder of10 Los Niños Primero, an organization dedicated to uplifting Latin o children and families in11 Atlanta through culturally rich and inclusive education programs; and12 WHEREAS, originally from Venezuela, she founded the organizatio n in 2001 with the13 support of Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church and launched the fi rst Los Niños Primero14 Summer Program alongside the late bilingual speech pathologist and diagnostician Martha15 H. R. 582 - 1 - 25 LC 112 3279 Barrios Mead, which welcomed 17 young students for two weeks of inspiring learning and16 community connection; and17 WHEREAS, under her leadership, Los Niños Primero has grown to impact more than 6,20018 Latino children, youth, and families through programs that fost er academic readiness,19 community engagement, and leadership development; and20 WHEREAS, Maritza Morelli has been widely recognized for her exe mplary efforts,21 receiving the Congressional Honor from Congresswoman Lucy McBath in 2022 and being22 named one of Georgia's 50 Most Influential Latino Leaders by th e Georgia Hispanic23 Chamber of Commerce; and24 WHEREAS, it is abundantly fitting and proper that the outstanding accomplishments of this25 extraordinary servant leader be appropriately recognized.26 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that27 the members of this body congratulate and commend Maritza Morelli for receiving the 202528 Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award and exten d best wishes for her29 continued success.30 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized31 and directed to make an appr opriate copy of t his resolution ava ilable for distribution to32 Maritza Morelli.33 H. R. 582 - 2 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House resolution commends Maritza Morelli, executive director of Los Ninos Primero, for receiving the 2025 Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award. ### Plain-language summary This resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives honors Maritza Morelli, who co-founded and leads Los Ninos Primero, an Atlanta organization that supports Latino children and families through education programs. The resolution recounts her background, founding the group in 2001 with support from Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church, and its growth to reach more than 6,200 Latino children, youth, and families. It also notes her past recognitions, including a Congressional Honor from Congresswoman Lucy McBath and being named one of Georgia's 50 Most Influential Latino Leaders. The resolution formally congratulates her for receiving the 2025 Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award, an honor given annually by the Georgia Women's Legislative Caucus during Women's History Month, and directs the Clerk of the House to send her a copy of the resolution. ### What it does - Congratulates and commends Maritza Morelli by name for receiving the 2025 Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award. - Formally recounts her work founding and leading Los Ninos Primero, an organization serving Latino children and families in Atlanta. - Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to prepare and distribute a copy of the resolution to Morelli. - Extends the House's best wishes for her continued success, without creating any new law, funding, or program. ### Who it affects The resolution directly names and honors Maritza Morelli. It also references Los Ninos Primero and the families it serves, the Georgia Women's Legislative Caucus, and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, who is tasked with distributing the resolution. ### Why it matters This is a ceremonial honor with no legal or regulatory effect. Its practical impact is limited to publicly recognizing Morelli's community work and providing her an official copy of the resolution as a keepsake. ### Key provisions - The whereas clauses describe the history of the Yellow Rose Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award, named for the first African American woman elected to the General Assembly from middle Georgia. - The whereas clauses describe Morelli's founding of Los Ninos Primero in 2001 and its growth to reach more than 6,200 Latino children, youth, and families. - The resolved clause formally congratulates and commends Morelli for receiving the award and wishes her continued success. - A further resolved clause directs the Clerk of the House to make a copy of the resolution available for distribution to Morelli. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-03-11) - Last action: House Read and Adopted (2025-03-11) - Sponsors: Shea Roberts, Esther Panitch, Karen Lupton, Betsy Holland, Deborah Silcox - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71328 > The history, votes, and amendments (131 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr582.md?full=1