Award recognizes ambitious and pioneering entrepreneurs who are changing the world
NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) announced that Founder and CEO, Isabel Rafferty Zavala of Canela Media was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2022 National Award winner, following Isabel's selection as a New York regional award winner in June. Winners were selected from a pool of 206 regional Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Award winners from 190 companies across the US. Entrepreneur Of The Year was created to honor unstoppable entrepreneurs who dream up the services and products that disrupt markets and transform industries, all while improving lives. Now in its 37th year, it is celebrated as one of the most respected business award programs in the world.
"I am so humbled to have been given this incredible honor and be among this prestigious group of entrepreneurs," said Isabel Rafferty Zavala. "This further reiterates and validates the mission and vision behind making Canela Media a new and authentic option for Latino entertainment. We will continue to build on our success in the industry and stay true to our purpose to elevate the voices of our audience, creators and talent."
The winners were selected by a panel of independent judges made up of entrepreneurs from across the US. Each candidate was evaluated based on entrepreneurial spirit; company purpose, growth and impact; and other core contributions and attributes.
Canela Media has had an incredibly successful year, having closed an oversubscribed $32 million Series A funding round in February to kick off a series of new product and content rollouts. Original programming launches across Canela.TV, Canela Music, Canela Sports and Canela Kids has driven user engagement and increased Canela's user base. Additionally, Canela launched its Silicon Valley-based Innovation lab to enhance user experience. Launching next month will be the highly anticipated Canela Kids app, focused exclusively on safe Spanish language programming for children.
Isabel Rafferty Zavala joins the following leaders from across the nation as Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 National Award winners:
- Coley Brady and Ryan Brady, Co-Founders, Alliance RV, Elkhart, Indiana
- David Heath, CEO, Bombas, New York, New York
- Othman Laraki, CEO, Color, Burlingame, California
- Barbara Smith, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, Commercial Metals Company, Irving, Texas
- Haroon Mokhtarzada, Co-Founder and CEO, Truebill (now Rocket Money), Silver Spring, Maryland
- Jan Bednar, CEO, ShipMonk, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Holly Thaggard, Founder, and Amanda Baldwin, CEO, Supergoop!, San Antonio, Texas (overall National winners)
- Joe Kudla, CEO, Vuori, Carlsbad, California
- Wade Foster, Co-Founder and CEO, Zapier Inc., San Francisco, California
"Even in the face of extreme adversity and an uncertain business landscape, this year's National Award winners were able to achieve incredible growth, shake up industry standards, and provide products and services their communities needed," said Andrew (AJ) Jordan, EY Americas Entrepreneur Of The Year Director. "They embody the true spirit of entrepreneurship – grit, ambition and above all else, passion for their employees, their missions and the clients they serve. They are a shining example of business ingenuity, and we are proud to honor them."
Since 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year has celebrated entrepreneurs whose drive, innovative spirit and creativity have fueled their companies' success, revolutionized their industries and influenced their communities. The National finalists and winners were announced during a celebration held at the Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. They become lifetime members of the esteemed multi-industry community of award winners, with exclusive, continued access to the experience, insight and wisdom of fellow alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries — all supported by a wide array of EY resources.
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, SAP America and the Kauffman Foundation.
Videos and photos
Videos and photos of all Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners will be available at https://www.ey.com/en_us/entrepreneur-of-the-year/meet-the-winners-and-finalists-2022.
About Canela Media
Canela Media is a leading, minority-owned technology driven company offering brands a complete ecosystem to connect with multicultural audiences starting with its free streaming platform service, Canela.TV, which enriches the new generation of U.S. Latinos with free access to unique, culturally relevant content. In addition to TV content, Canela Music features a unique blend of Latin music programming, featuring various genres from Latin Pop, Regional Mexican, Classics, Romantic, and more.
Canela Media reaches more than 50 million unique Hispanics across its 180+ premium Spanish-language sites. Combined with the company's proprietary data, Canela Media possesses in-depth knowledge and understanding of how to establish meaningful and culturally relevant connections with the new mainstream – U.S. and Latam Hispanics.
Headquartered in New York, Canela Media is ranked as the fourth largest Hispanic ad-focused company and the only female- and minority-owned certified digital company. For more information please visit http://www.CanelaMedia.com.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the title. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.
About EY Private
As Advisors to the Ambitious™, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private.
About EY
EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.
Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.
Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.
Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.
Media Contact
Jennifer Fugel, Briz Media Group, 1 8453000633, [email protected]
SOURCE Ernst & Young LLP
Share this article