Ed Morales
Meet the LA Catholic behind this year’s Rose Parade
Like many people, Ed Morales will be busy this holiday season merging his duties as husband, father, and partner at his law firm with the volunteering he does every year around Christmas.
Unlike many people, Morales’ volunteering will be taken up running a little hometown operation called The Tournament of Roses, the one responsible for the iconic parade viewed by more than 700,000 in person and watched by another 50 million Americans on television and broadcast to more than 170 countries.
A parishioner at St. Phillip the Apostle Church in Pasadena, Morales is president and chairman of the board for the 2025 Pasadena Tournament of Roses, which includes the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game, meaning his 2024 has been taken up with myriad tasks, travel, meetings, and obligations that come with the position since, as he points out, “this is not a figurehead position. You’re working side by side with all of the staff, board members, and volunteers.”