Cuban-American attorney Cesar L. Alvarez to receive Miami's Sand in My Shoes Award

October 6, 2026

Cuban-American attorney Cesar L. Alvarez, Senior Chairman of the global law firm Greenberg Traurig, will receive the 2026 Sand in My Shoes Award, which the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce calls the city's most prestigious community leadership honor. The award dinner is set for Thursday, October 15, 2026, at Jungle Island, from 5:30 to 9 p.m., according to the Chamber and the firm.

Alvarez emigrated from Cuba with his family in 1960, when he was 13 and spoke no English. He studied at Miami Dade College and went on to earn business and law degrees at the University of Florida. As Greenberg Traurig's CEO starting in 1997, he grew the firm from 325 lawyers in eight offices to roughly 1,850 professionals in more than 36 locations, placing it among the country's ten largest.

"My father taught me that as immigrants and refugees we have a responsibility to leave the community better than we found it," Alvarez said of the honor. Chamber president and CEO Alfred Sanchez called him "a pillar of this community for decades," adding that, as a Cuban immigrant who came to Miami as a teen, "his story is a perfect example of the American dream." Established in 1981, the Sand in My Shoes Award recognizes people who have made lasting contributions to Greater Miami.