Lucia Ballas-Traynor, an executive with more than 25 years of experience in marketing and media, has joined River Towns Media, publisher of River Journal North (RJN) and River Journal, as Director of Business Development.
Prior to joining RJN, Ballas-Traynor was at the helm of leading Hispanic media brands such as Univision’s Galavision, Paramount’s MTV Tr3s, Meredith’s People en Español and CafeMedia’s Mamaslatinas. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President of Client Partnerships for Hemisphere Media Group, owner of five leading Hispanic cable networks in the U.S. and Latin America.
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In early 2021, she met RJN Owner and Publisher Alain Begun and other local business owners at a Chamber of Commerce meeting and was hooked on supporting local businesses.
“I was introduced to so many small business owners in the River Towns as they were struggling to emerge from the pandemic. I wanted to help connect local businesses with more local consumers,” said Ballas-Traynor. “That is especially true of the Hispanic business community. In many cases, they have had limited success reaching non-Latino consumers.”
Lucia’s unique ability to connect local businesses with the Latino community is evident in a scholarship program she developed for Latinx students at Sleepy Hollow High School. Lucia worked with Dwyer & Michael’s Funeral Home, which serves the Hispanic and non-Hispanic communities from Yonkers to Peekskill, to create a scholarship awarding $750 each to six Latinx students. “The program has been so well-received by the school, the students and the community that Dwyer & Michael’s is already thinking about this as an annual program,” noted Ballas-Traynor.
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Lucia will play an important role in helping all local businesses connect with the 150,000 River Town residents that RJN and River Journal reach each month through the U.S. Postal Service.
Lucia is a bilingual and bicultural native of Chile. She is a graduate of New York University and lives with her husband and two pooches in the River Towns. You can reach Lucia at lucia@rivertownsmedia.com or 917-602-3939.
