Ana Maria
Ana Maria was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Ana Maria was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico. In 2001 she boarded a plane to New Jersey to go to college with a suitcase full of dreams. Graduated from Kean University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Communications. She started her career at WKTU 103.5FM she started as an intern then promotions assistant, contest coordinator and work her way up. A year later she worked as the show producer for Diane Prior and Judy Torres being part of the KTU family for three years. After that in 2006, for three and a half years, she joined WSKQ La Mega. Ana Maria traveled throughout the tri-state area filled with energy, charisma, lots of humor and of course with the microphone glued to her hand. She was better known in MegaYork as “La Nena” of Mega. A year after starting to work in Mega she was added as part of the 1# Radio show in NYC El Vacilon De La Mañana where she was on air, she did stunts and was also behind the scenes assisting the producer and associate producer of the show for two and a half years. With all the love and experiences she received at El Vacilon de La Mañana & Mega she realized that it was time to move on and have her own show. She proceeds to go on a journey to find her new place in the radio industry.
She joined the JVC Broadcasting team, fifteen years ago as an on-air personality for their brand-new Spanish-language station La Fiesta, WBON/98.5 FM. In 2010 she was promoted to Program Director of La Fiesta and was in charged with integrating the station into the ever-growing Hispanic population on Long Island. Ana Maria also served as Promotions Director of all the JVC Broadcasting New York radio stations from 2011 to 2020. In January 2020, Ana Maria expanded her horizons by becoming the new program director for JVC Broadcasting’s, Party 105 FM , an English top 40 format. Now she serves as Program Director for two stations doing Mornings in one & afternoons in the other one. This makes her one busy lady but she does it all with a smile.
Her work has open the doors of theater, doing her first performance under the direction of Minerva Perez Scelza who heard her radio show and offered her a part in the play The Vagina Monologues that took place March 28th, 2009 in Long Island NY. In March 2011, she performed as “La Poncia” on the play “The House of Bernarda Alba”. In April 2015, she participated as Maria in a Monologue called “Maria” that creates awareness about domestic violence in the Hispanic community. Ana Maria also wrote a monthly column called Mi Life between 20 & 30 for the newspaper Voz Latina for 5 years.
Ana has been an active member of the Long Island Puerto Rican Day Parade Board for the past 14 years. She also works with Non-Profit organizations to help bring awareness to the causes that need the spotlight. Ana Maria has been recognized by the Long Island Latino Teachers Association for donating her time to influence kids to pursue higher education after high school. As an active member of the community she has used her show on La Fiesta to create awareness about the issues that matter to the Latino community on Long Island. She worked with the production team of PBS on the Marcelo Lucero PBS documentary “Not in My Town”. She covered the Historical Election of Sonia Sotomayor and reported for many Spanish language stations around the world. If the community needs to spread a message they know they can count on her to make it happen. After Hurricane Maria hit her island of Puerto Rico within days of the catastrophe, she rallied the community and its leaders creating an on-air Radio-thon to help those affected in PR. She has received numerous awards for her work in the community including a Proclamation from Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone & also from Legislator
Sammy Gonzalez for being an advocate. She is a part of Jibaritos with Troops a nonprofit organization.A collective comprised of compassionate civilians, as well as active and retired military personnel, dedicated to providing assistance during times of need.”
During the Pandemic, Ana Maria, never stopped working. With La Fiesta being the only Spanish speaking station, the regular music station became a new source for news keeping the Latino community informed during trying times. Referred as the “Oprah Winfrey” of Long Island by Newsday Newspaper, she combines her passion to radio with her love for people by being the voice for causes that really matter in Long Island.
On September 23rd 2021, she was awarded the prestigious Medallas Cortez Award for Local Personality of the Year by Radio Ink at the Hispanic Radio Conference. There were 6 finalists chosen for this award in the states. One took home the coveted medal our Ana Maria. Medallas Cortez awards recognizes Hispanic Excellence in the United States.
JVC Media’s President and CEO John Caracciolo said, “Having someone like Ana with her talent and skill set is a complete win for us, she lives and breathes radio and she does her job with heart and passion. She makes all of us at JVC very proud to have her in the family. She developed so many on air programs and partnerships with her listeners that they consider her family as well, we are so lucky to have her on the team”. The key to her success is team work, she believes everyone deserves an opportunity to shine & to grow, “ I am only as good as the team I build, their creativity & input is what molds a station. We all want to be a part of something big and we are capable of that if we help each other. I consider myself very lucky to have an such amazing staff in La Fiesta & continue to build a great one on Party 105.”
In March 2022, she was selected by Legislator Kara Hahn of the 5th District to serve as a member of the Suffolk County Hispanic Advisory Board. She humbly accepted this responsibility, because now she has bigger opportunity to help the community change disparities that affect Latinos in Long Island.
Fast forward to today. As of September 5th, 2023 JVC Broadcasting launched Long Island En VIVO 1440am/93.3fm the first News/Talk Spanish station on Long Island with Ana Maria at the helm as Operations Manager. What started as an idea in her head a few years back became a reality thanks to the trust that the JVC Broadcasting management team has in her. JVC Media’s President and CEO John Caracciolo said “ Ana developed the concept of live, local, community talk radio for this demo and named it ‘En Vivo,’ or ‘Live,’ Caracciolo continued. “All I had to do was find an outlet for this amazing concept she developed. Now we have a dedicated source that will not only deliver relevant information about what happens in our area but also educates and creates opportunities for the Hispanic population to prosper by providing the tools and resources they need.”
In March 2024, as the celebration’s for Women’s month began she received the award “Personality of the Year” by Flutterflies a non for profit organization in Long Island. She also received the Woman in Media Honors of the Town of Brookhaven by the office Women’s Services for her outstanding service in Communications/Media.
Now Ana Maria Caraballo Gonzalez is an award-winning morning show host in Español, afternoon show host in English, Program Director for two stations & Operations Manager of a third who helped pioneered Spanish language radio programing as it exists on Long Island today. Earlier this year on March 2025, she was hired as a consultant & created a new station in Fort Walton Florida following the recipe of La Fiesta NY expanding the brand to the Hispanic community on the Emerald Coast & soon Ocala Florida…. But something tells us that this mother of two, wife, daughter, sister, friend, advocate & radio machine is far from done…
DJ Fino
Su primera aparición en radio fue en el mes de julio de 2010, por invitación de Ana Maria Caraballo, (host y directora de programación de JVC Broadcasting), quien no soltó la mano de este jovencito talentoso que, hasta la fecha ha hecho parte La Fiesta; unas veces animando como dj en las discotecas aliadas de la emisora y otras a través de sus mezclas de los sábados en la noche, que entre otras anticipan lo que será la rumba en Long Island. Al aire ha recibido gestos amables de los oyentes, y con gran sencillez recibe las flores y las críticas que a su paso le hacen, el carisma y la nobleza hacen parte de su personalidad y lo hace feliz el poder vivir el sueño de hacer lo que le gusta, en la única emisora latina de Long Island.
Ahora acompaña a Ana María en su programa de la mañana LEVANTATE!
