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  Cancela, Jose
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationNonpartisan  
 
NameJose Cancela
Address5430 SW 8 ST.
Coral Gables, Florida 33134, United States
EmailNone
Website [Link]
Born 00, 1957 (67 years)
ContributorQbanito
Last ModifedQbanito
Jul 13, 2004 09:51pm
Tags Hispanic -
InfoJose Cancela was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1957. When Jose was just three years old, his father was imprisoned in Castro’s jails. His courageous mother, who hoped for a better life for her children, brought Jose and his three siblings to Miami-Dade County. Jose’s mother raised her children to always do the right thing and she made it a point to keep their father’s memory alive in the home. She provided income to the family by working as a schoolteacher during the day and by selling encyclopedias at night to supplement the family income. Jose and the family were re-united with his dad at the age of 14. Once in the United States, Jose's father took odd and end jobs until he was able to pursue his passion and became a member of the Biscayne Harbor Pilots where he retired four years ago after 17 years of service.

Growing up in Little Havana, Jose has experienced first hand Miami-Dade County’s rapid growth as it has flourished from a relatively small coastal community to the international metropolis that it has become today. As the County developed and expanded over the last two decades, so has Jose’s career as a prominent member of Miami-Dade’s business and civic community.

Jose’s drive and determination showed at an early age as he started his business career in sales. Even at the young age of 11, he strove for success by winning a trip to Chicago for selling the most subscriptions for The Miami News.

Wanting to serve his community and country at an early age, Jose joined the United States Air Force. Upon graduating from high school, he enlisted and served at Strategic Air Command at Warner Robbins Air Force base. He excelled in the Air Force and the values of honor, commitment, and duty became the mold that would forever shape his life. These values, along with an unrivaled commitment to people and a profound determination to excel, set the stage that would allow him to help build and lead the Hispanic media market as it emerged and grew out of infancy in the United States.

He entered the media market by starting with a position as a salesman at Univision, channel 23, in Miami in 1979. Over the course of the next few years, Jose quickly moved up the ranks of the company and was promoted to manage the Univision station in Phoenix, Arizona. Three years later, Jose was promoted to run the Univision station in San Antonio, Texas. By the young age of 30, Jose was named General Manager for Univision’s, channel 23, flagship station in Miami where his career had started.

His continued success at Univision eventually brought Jose new and exciting opportunities. Such an opportunity presented itself in 1992, when he was named President of the Telemundo Station Group. During his tenure at the Telemundo Station Group he demonstrated his ability to generate revenue and effectively manage all aspects of the company. In 1998, after a twenty-year career as a pioneer and successful Media executive, Jose joined a start-up company called Radio Unica in an attempt to help launch the first-ever National Spanish talk radio network. After a committed effort by Jose and many others, the company was sold to a different group of investors. Today, Jose can be heard reminding all his growing audiences that it’s not how you fall down, it’s how you get up, and what you learned from being down. Jose remains proud of the vision behind Radio Unica - trying to unite the nation's Hispanic community through a new medium and the dedicated effort he and his loyal employees put forth.

Despite his busy work schedule, Jose has always made time to become very involved in Miami-Dade County’s civic arena. A former chairman of the Public Health Trust, he put his leadership ability to work and rallied elected officials and other community leaders to support the awareness of improving the County’s healthcare system. Jose was one of the leaders of the campaign to pass a halfpenny sales tax in the early 90’s to help provide healthcare for the poor at Jackson Memorial Hospital and create a dedicated source of funding for the most advanced emergency trauma center in the Country.

Jose was also recognized in 2000 by one of Miami-Dade County's most respected organizations, the NCCJ (National Conference for Community and Justice). He was awarded the Silver Medallion by the organization, which is the highest honor they bestow for distinction as a dedicated civic activist.

Jose is also honored to have served as a former Chairman of the Greater Miami-Dade County Chamber of Commerce - the backbone of Miami-Dade County’s business community. Jose also chaired the County Charter review committee in the early 90s that recommended the Executive Mayor form of government. He currently sits on the Dade County advisory board of Wachovia Bank. Jose also sits on the board of Century Home Builders and serves on the State of Florida advisory board for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Jose’s achievements in both the business and civic arenas of Miami-Dade County have established him as one of the foremost public figures of the community – a community that he values and respects. Through all his endeavors, Jose continuously works towards Miami-Dade County’s development and improvement as one of the most diverse and dynamic communities of the United States.

Today Jose has two children that he cherishes dearly, Yvanna 16 and Carlos 13.



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  08/31/2004 Miami-Dade County Mayor Lost 11.94% (-15.64%)
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Miami-Dade County Mayor-Runoff - Nov 02, 2004 R Carlos Alvarez