Encantos, the award-winning entertainment-driven edtech company creating direct-to-learner family brands, announced today that Solomon (“Sol”) Trujillo has been appointed as the company’s Non-Executive Chairman and joins the Board of Directors, effective immediately.
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Sol Trujillo, Chairman of Encantos (Photo: Business Wire)
Mr. Trujillo is a distinguished international business executive and entrepreneur with three decades’ experience as CEO of large market cap global companies in the US, the EU, and Asia-Pacific. A digital pioneer operating in telecommunications, media, and technology, he has been a long-time champion of subscription-driven businesses and direct-to-consumer technologies. Sol currently sits on corporate boards in the US, EU, and China and has managed operations in more than 25 countries – including developed and emerging markets from the EU and North America to China, South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
“Sol is a business legend, one of the most accomplished and respected global executives in the world,” said Steven Wolfe Pereira, Chief Executive Officer, Encantos. “Sol is a digital pioneer, an early champion of mobile, the smartphone and the Internet-enabled innovation economy. And Sol is an experienced operator, a CEO who has scaled three telecom companies each with market caps of $50 billion. He deeply understands the power of the subscription model, which is the driver of the Encantos business. He also brings vast knowledge of corporate governance as a board director, we are truly lucky to have Sol become our Chairman to help us grow Encantos into the most important, impactful, and beloved entertainment-driven edtech company in the world.”
After graduating from the University of Wyoming, where he earned a B.S. in Business and an MBA in Finance, Mr. Trujillo went to work for AT&T. Seven years later, he became the youngest executive officer in the history of the company. Following the break-up of the Bell monopoly in 1984, Mr. Trujillo joined US West, one of seven Bell operating companies established by the divestiture, working his way up to chairman, CEO, and president of the telecommunications giant. In this role, Mr. Trujillo was America’s first US-born Hispanic to serve as CEO of a Fortune 150 company. In 2001, Mr. Trujillo joined the Board of Orange SA, a Paris-based multinational wireless giant with 50 million customers in 19 countries throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Two years later, Mr. Trujillo moved to the CEO position to prepare the company for acquisition, becoming the first American to lead a CAC-40 company. Mr. Trujillo then became CEO of Telstra Corporation, Australia’s largest media-communications enterprise, where he completed the privatization of a previously government-owned monopoly and led the transformation of a traditional telecommunications utility into an integrated media-communications company.
Today, Mr. Trujillo is the chairman of Trujillo Group Investments and the founder of L’ATTITUDE, in partnership with the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) CEO Gary Acosta and the 19 Grammy award-winning musician and producer Emilio Estefan. L’ATTITUDE is a business-based national initiative focused on helping enlightened executives understand The New Mainstream Economy and the U.S. Latino cohort that is driving it. He currently serves as a board director of Western Union and previously served on the boards of Bank of America, EDS, Gannett, Orange SA, PepsiCo. Inc., Target Corporation, and WPP.
As part of the Encantos Board of Directors, Mr. Trujillo will work closely with Mr. Wolfe Pereira and the senior management team as Encantos executes its strategy to build its subscription-led blended learning platform powered by direct-to-consumer family brands. Encantos’ award-winning brands include the #1 bilingual preschool brand Canticos, the food-centric Issa’s Edible Adventures, and global citizenship series Tiny Travelers.
“Companies that win are those that are customer-obsessed and deeply understand their wants and needs and can execute with that knowledge. I have seen first-hand what happens when you can achieve “customer loyalty” as a strategic advantage and differentiator,” said Sol Trujillo. “This is what Encantos has accomplished in a short period of time. Now more than ever, kids need to learn 21st century learning, literacy, and life skills. The pandemic only accelerates the shift to blended learning tools combining both digital and physical products for parents and educators. As education is changing, so are our children. More than half of the kids in America today are diverse and there has never been a greater need for representation. There is incredible demand for new direct-to-consumer brands that are entertaining, engaging and educational. I’m proud to not only invest in Encantos but to also join the board. I’m looking forward to working with Steven and the incredible team at Encantos.”
In addition to his work in business, Sol has also been active at the national level in the U.S. on issues related to technology development, Hispanic affairs, and other public policy issues – including trade policy, immigration, and advocacy on behalf of workplace diversity and the nation-wide deployment of high-speed broadband as an enabling technology to advance innovation across all sectors, stimulate productivity growth, and spur new economic growth and development. He has been a trade policy advisor to the Clinton and the second Bush administrations, trustee of Boston College, and currently serves on the advisory board of UCLA’s School of Public Policy and the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, a think tank that addresses Latino issues in North America. He is also the co-founder of the Latino Donor Collaborative of US Latino business leaders.
ABOUT ENCANTOS
Encantos is on a mission to become the most impactful entertainment-driven edtech company in the world. By using entertainment and technology to reimagine education focused on 21st century skills, Encantos is creating direct-to-learner family brands that both kids and parents love. An award-winning B-Corp, Encantos’ family brands include the Emmy-nominated and 2x Kidscreen award-winning #1 bilingual preschool brand Canticos, the food-focused Issa’s Edible Adventures, the Day of the Dead-inspired resilience brand Skeletitos, and the adventure-based travel brand Tiny Travelers. Encantos brings its brands to life via digital and physical offerings including apps, books, consumer products, music, subscription services, videos, and more. Encantos has received industry awards and accolades from the AP, ASU GSV, CNN, Common Sense Media, Forbes, Kidscreen, Kirkus Reviews, NBC News, The New York Times, NPR, Parents Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Romper, School Library Journal, Univision and USA Today. Headquartered in Culver City, CA, Encantos is a proud women-owned public benefit corporation that puts diversity, equality, and inclusion at the heart of everything it creates. For more information, visit encantosbrands.com and follow @encantosbrands on instagram and twitter.
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