This past weekend in a ceremony held at the historic Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, one of the entertainment industry’s pioneer forces Andrea Romano, was honored by the Children & Family Emmys’ as one of the first inductees into their inaugural Silver Circle.

The Silver Circle recognizes those professionals who have performed distinguished service within the television industry for 25 years or more. But the recognition goes well beyond their longevity – they are honored for making an enduring contribution to the vitality of the television industry and for setting standards of achievement the rest of the industry hopes to emulate. These honorees also give back to the community as mentors, educators and volunteers.

Romano’s career highlights include casting 23 different DC Universe Original Movies and the bulk of Warner Bros. Animation’s legendary animated TV series like Animaniacs and Batman: The Animated Series to more recent hits like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Voltron: Legendary Defender to guiding the voices of longtime sensations SpongeBob SquarePants and Avatar: The Last Airbender, to working across the globe directing the international casts of animated feature films and TV series.  She has also done voice direction (and often casting) for more than 40 television series, over 50 films and TV movies, 20+ video games and a handful of shorts. In short, the current landscape we refer to as pop culture would not be the same without her incredible contributions.

Regarding the induction, Romano offered “This industry was given me so much, from wonderful relationships with actors and marvelously creative individuals throughout the animation world, to a lifetime of incredible memories and fulfilling work,” Romano said. “I’m so flattered that, five years after I’ve retired, people are still acknowledging my contributions, and I’m truly honored to be inducted beside such an illustrious group – including the people who produced Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood – into the inaugural class of the Silver Circle.”