Adriana Cisneros Phelps de Griffin (born 17 December 1979) is a Venezuelan businesswoman and the CEO of

Grupo Cisneros Grupo Cisneros is a privately held, family owned business headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, historically based in Venezuela, with a focus on Latin American and Spanish-speaking people worldwide. It is a conglomerate of media entertainment ...

, a privately-owned media, entertainment, digital media, real estate, tourism resorts and consumer products company. She is also president of the Fundación Cisneros.

Early life and education

Cisneros was born in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, Venezuela, to

Gustavo Cisneros Gustavo Alfredo Jiménez de Cisneros y Rendiles (1 June 1945 – 29 December 2023) was a Venezuelan businessman and Chairman of '' Grupo Cisneros''. A onetime billionaire, according to ''Forbes,'' his net worth peaked at US$6.0 billion in 2007 ...

and Patricia Phelps. Cisneros' paternal grandfather was

Diego Cisneros Diego Jesús Jiménez de Cisneros y Bermúdez (September 27, 1911 – July 15, 1980) was a Cuban–born Venezuelan businessman. He founded Grupo Cisneros. Early life Cisneros was born in Havana, Cuba, to parents Diego Jiménez de Cisneros y G ...

, who founded

. Her maternal grandfather was William H. Phelps, Jr. Her maternal great-grandfather was William H. Phelps, Sr., who, in 1953, started the first television station in Venezuela. Both were noted businessmen and

ornithologists __NOTOC__ This is a list of ornithologists who have articles, in alphabetical order by surname. See also :Ornithologists. A * John Abbot – US * Clinton Gilbert Abbott – US * William Louis Abbott – US * Humayun Abdulali — India * Joseph ...

. She has an older brother, Guillermo Cisneros, and an older sister, Carolina Cisneros de Rodríguez. In 1998, she graduated from

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy (often called Deerfield or DA) is an Independent school, independent College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schoo ...

, a boarding school in Deerfield,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, which she and other family members attended. In 2002, Cisneros received a bachelor's degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 2005, she received a master's degree in journalism from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. In 2010, Cisneros attended

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

's Program for Leadership Development.

Career

Cisneros worked at the organization Aid for AIDS, which promotes awareness and treatment of AIDS in Latin America.

Grupo Cisneros

Grupo Cisneros is one of the largest privately held media entertainment organizations in the world. From 2009 to August 2013, Cisneros was vice chairman and director of strategy at

. In this position, Cisneros worked with her father and then CEO, Steven Bandel, to create a transition plan. In 2013, at the age of 33, Cisneros was appointed CEO of

, taking over from Bandel. Cisneros is the third generation of her family to lead Grupo Cisneros. Her paternal grandfather, Diego Cisneros, was the organization’s founder, and she is the daughter of its former chairman,

and

Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Patricia is a feminine given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word '' patrician'', meaning 'noble', it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. Another well-known variant is Patrice. According to the US Social Securi ...

. Cisneros reorganized the company into three divisions. The three divisions are: Cisneros Media, Cisneros Interactive and Cisneros Real Estate. Cisneros Media was the legacy business, while Cisneros Interactive and Cisneros Real Estate were business units that she created from scratch. * Cisneros Media: Includes the Venezuelan TV Channel,

Venevisión Venevisión () is a Venezuelan free-to-air television channel and one of Venezuela's largest television networks, owned by the Cisneros Media division of Grupo Cisneros. It was founded in 1961 by Diego Cisneros. It is one of the major telenove ...

, as well as cable TV channels Venevision Plus, VmasTV and VePlusTV. Cisneros is the owner of the Miss Venezuela Organization, which holds a record six

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

and seven

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

titles. It also includes the corporate enterprises as Cisneros Media Distribution; Venevision Productions; the record labels VeneMusic and Siente Music and the concert producer and promoter VeneShow * Cisneros Interactive: Digital media division created on 2011, focused on digital and mobile publicity, e-commerce, social games and crowd-founding. It includes RedMas and Adsmovil companies, besides investment enterprises as Cuponidad, Mobly, Idea.me and Queremos * Cisneros Real Estate: Real Estate division which includes Tropicalia, a sustainable tourism development located in

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Cisneros has said that she built upon approaches used first by her grandfather, Diego Cisneros, and later perfected by her father, Gustavo Cisneros, to establish pan-regional business relationships. An example of her father's work to distribute risk and innovate across the region was his roll-out of

DirecTV Latin America Vrio Corp. (formerly DirecTV Latin America LLC; stylized as Vгio) is an American-headquartered company that manages the commercial operations of the Latin American branch of DirecTV (mostly known as DirecTV Latin America). It is owned by Grupo ...

in the 1990s.

Corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate social impact is a form of international private business industry self-regulation, self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropy, philanthropic, activist, or chari ...

is an integral part of decision-making, as Cisneros sees it as being good business to focus on responsible and strategic members within the communities they operate. One example of this is the January 1996 launch of , the first pan-regional education channel initiative, coordinated with each country's ministry of education, that utilized DirecTV Latin American feeds and created accessible free educational programming on TVs in classrooms throughout the region. Cisneros has been instrumental in establishing a nimble approach to business for Cisneros. She uses a small team of generalist finance and legal specialists to work on long-term goals, acquisitions, and planning. Cisneros Interactive focuses on monetizing digital traffic with a pan-regional approach to extending their ad network. In November 2016, Cisneros Interactive started a partnership with

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Latin America to be its exclusive reseller in Latin American countries including Venezuela, Paraguay, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Fundación Cisneros

Cisneros has served as the President of the Fundación Cisneros, a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

founded by her parents,

and

, that strives to improve education in Latin America and foster global awareness of the region’s heritage and its contribution to world culture. She also oversaw the foundation’s educational initiatives, including the teacher training program, Actualización de Maestros en Educación (AME).

Personal life

In 2007, Cisneros married British novelist Nicholas Griffin. They have two children, and live in Miami, Florida.

Leadership

AST SpaceMobile AST SpaceMobile is a Public company, publicly traded satellite designer and manufacturer based in Midland, Texas, United States. The company is building the SpaceMobile satellite constellation, a space-based cellular broadband network that will ...

, board member * Citibank Private Bank Latin American Advisory Board, Member *

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

, Term Member * Endeavor Miami, co-chair and board member *

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, board member *

International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Membership organization, membership organization, based in New York City, composed of leading media and entertainment executives acro ...

International Emmy The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sc ...

s, Director and Executive Board Member *

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

, board member *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, International Council and Latin American and Caribbean Fund *

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution at 2201 Jackson Avenue in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City, United States. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...

, board member *

Paley Center for Media The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City with a branch office in Los Angeles. It is de ...

, Trustee *

The Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home. Its stated miss ...

. Henry Crown Fellowship * The Electric Factory, board member *

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

, trustee * Wyncode, Advisory Board Member

Awards

* 2015:

NATPE The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), now branded as Content First, is a professional organization representing television programming executives and content creators. Founded in 1964 in response to the Prime Time Acc ...

Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award Recipient, with her father, Gustavo Cisneros

References

External links

*
Adriana Cisneros
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cisneros, Adriana American media executives 1979 births Cisneros family Columbia College (New York) alumni New York University alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American women chief executives American chief executives in the mass media industry Deerfield Academy alumni Venezuelan women journalists Henry Crown Fellows 21st-century American women

Early life and education

Career

Grupo Cisneros

Fundación Cisneros

Personal life

Leadership

Awards

See also

References

Further reading

External links