HSN Extends American Dreams Initiative through Partnership with Liliana Gil Valletta

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., June 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Leading entertainment and lifestyle retailer, HSN, is collaborating with award-winning entrepreneur Liliana "Lili" Gil Valletta to discover new inventors and innovators as part of its American Dreams initiative. HSN's American Dreams platform finds, educates and trains rising entrepreneurs to help bring their products to the marketplace and create successful business opportunities.

"HSN has been dedicated to finding and supporting innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs since we first opened our doors 40 years ago.  Entrepreneurship is core to HSN's DNA, and we are thrilled to have Lili Gil Valletta join us on our mission to provide these inventors with the tools they need to bring their products to life," said Bill Brand, President, HSN. "As a business owner herself, Lili understands the critical role small businesses play in building communities and local economies.  As we enter the next decade in HSN's history, we are committed to helping rising entrepreneurs as they launch their products or start a business of their own."

Gil Valletta is founder and CEO of CIEN+, an advocate for minority business owners and the creator of the accelerator program, Dreamers Ventures, a multi-city tour and business accelerator platform primarily empowering Latinos with access to tools, capital and resources for growth.  Minority entrepreneurs represent the fastest growing segment of small business owners in America; however, they still lag in their ability to access capital and opportunities, as reported by the Minority Business Development Agency.

"I am honored to be working with HSN to help discover great inventions and continue the momentum of Project American Dreams," said Gil Valletta. "As an entrepreneur and immigrant from Colombia, I have experienced firsthand the challenges we face as women and minority business owners and I am focused on helping make it easier for others to achieve their dreams."

Through Dreamers Ventures and CIEN+, Gil Valletta will help identify and discover inventors and innovators with products that could one day be sold on HSN.  This partnership continues the success of the Project American Dreams program, which launched five inventors last March and identified over 100 products created by Latino entrepreneurs.

Gil Valletta  joins a select group of star entrepreneurs that include TV's original billion-dollar man Bob Circosta, Shark Tank'sDaymond John, tech expert Randi Zuckerberg and Marc Portney, from the Science Channel's popular series All American Makers. Gil Valletta will appear as the first Latina star entrepreneur host on HSN's American Dreams joining her discovered inventors to sell their products on-air reaching over 90 million households.

For more information about HSN and American Dreams please visit http://www.hsn.com/ 

For more information about Liliana Gil Valletta and Dreamers Ventures visit www.dreamersventures.com and follow her social channels Twitter: www.twitter.com/liligil Instagram: www.instagram.com/liligilusa and YouTube: www.youtube.com/liligil 

About HSN
HSN is a leading entertainment and lifestyle retailer, offering a curated assortment of exclusive products and top brand names to its customers. HSN incorporates entertainment, inspiration, personalities and industry experts to provide an entirely unique shopping experience. At HSN, customers find exceptional selections in Health & Beauty, Jewelry, Home/Lifestyle, Fashion/Accessories, and Electronics. HSN broadcasts live to over 90 million households in the US 24/7 and its website - hsn.com features more than 50,000 product videos. Mobile applications include HSN apps for iPad, iPhone and Android. HSN, founded 40 years ago as the first electronic retailer, is an operating segment of HSN, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSNI). For more information, please visit www.HSN.com, or follow @HSN on Facebook and Twitter.

About Lili Gil Valletta
An immigrant from Colombia, Lili is an award-winning entrepreneur, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a weekly independent TV contributor to various networks like Fox News, Fox Business, CNN en Español, among others. She is the cofounder and CEO of CIEN+ a firm that helps business leaders and Fortune 500 companies unlock the power of today's diverse marketplace with big data analytics, research, creativity and purpose.

She is also the creator of Dreamers Ventures, an empowerment platform and multi-city tour empowering entrepreneurs with the tools, capital and resources they need to accelerate their growth. Prior to launching her company, she had a 10-year career at Johnson & Johnson where she pioneered diversity and multicultural marketing initiatives and co-founded the Hispanic Employee Resource Group HOLA. Her work has been featured by Forbes, The Huffington Post, CNN, and has made her the recipient of many industry awards. Her advocacy for minority issues has impacted public and private organizations, including forums at the White House, the United Nations and as board member of the YMCA USA and the Harvard Kennedy School Women's Leadership Board, among others. For more information about Liliana Gil Valletta and Dreamers Ventures visit www.dreamresventures.com, www.lilianagil.com and follow her social channels Twitter: www.twitter.com/liligil Instagram: www.instagram.com/liligilusa and YouTube: www.youtube.com/liligil  

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/522717/Liliana_Gil_Valletta___HSN.jpg

SOURCE HSN