www.negociosnow.com
40 October 2022
Age: 35
Title: Founder
Name of Organization: Canela
Media
Isabel Rafferty Zavala is a di-
gital marketing pioneer. She is
the founder and CEO of Cane-
la Media, a leading digital me-
dia tech company that gives
brands the tools they need to
effectively connect with mul-
ticultural audiences through
multiple touchpoints, inclu-
ding its free-to-stream plat-
form Canela.TV, influencer
marketing, branded content,
and more than 180 exclusive
Spanish-language sites. Prior
to starting Canela Media, Isa-
bel founded Mobvious, a com-
pany dedicated to reaching
U.S. Hispanic and African
American audiences via mo-
bile advertising. Under Isabel's
leadership, Mobvious quickly
became the largest Hispanic-
focused ad network, as ranked
by Comscore, before being
acquired by PRISA in 2017.
In addition to being a mi-
nority woman CEO in an in-
dustry dominated by men, Isa-
bel is one of the few Latinas to
successfully secure VC funding
for her company, with tremen-
dous support from women-led
funds. In 2019, she was the re-
cipient of Culture Marketing
Council's 2019 Rising Star
Award. She was also named
Entrepreneur of the Year New
York by E&Y in 2022.
Under her leadership, Ca-
nela Media became one of the
top Hispanic media compa-
nies in its first year of opera-
tion. Canela.TV launched in
May 2020, becoming the first
AVOD streaming service built
exclusively for Latinos by La-
tinos – offering culturally re-
levant content in Spanish and
English. Canela.TV also debu-
ted Canela News, the first free
live-streaming newscast for
U.S. Latino cord cutters and
Canela Music, a new experien-
ce and mobile app, in Septem-
ber 2021.
Isabel Rafferty
Zavala
Digital
Marketing
Pioneer
WORDS OF WISDOM:
"A
s a Latina you
don't have the luxury
not to be the best - it's the only
way to guarantee you will be
noticed. Be polite, but speak up."
