Sánchez a Visionary Businesswoman

Those who know Diane Sánchez have, more than once, referred to her as the Julia Tuttle of the 21st century.

In 1895, the visionary businesswoman convinced industrialist Henry Flagler to connect the region to the rest of the nation with the Florida East Coast Railroad, which boosted development and helped establish Miami.

A hundred years later, Sánchez approached real estate developer Manny Medina about the need for better facilities to handle Internet data streaming into South Florida from Latin America through international cable connections. Medina built the Network Access Point (NAP) of the Americas in 2001.

“I’m dead serious when I call Diane the Julia Tuttle of our time, and I’ve heard others say it also,” says Ralph MacNamara, director of client services at Kaufman Rossin and chairman of the technology committee for the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. “The technology at the NAP made us one of the top global telecom hubs.”

It is that reputation that Sánchez is now putting to use as she and Medina organize a new technology conference, eMerge Americas Techweek, to further grow the region’s role as an international tech hub.

Set for May 2-6, the conference has a lofty goal. Sánchez and Medina have stated on the conference website that eMerge Americas will be “a defining moment for the global tech scene” and “an experience unlike any other.”

Continue reading this businesswoman article at bizjournals.com.