Meet the Honorees of the 2016 HOLA Awards: SUNNY HOSTIN

Attorney and journalist Sunny Hostin was a CNN legal analyst, regularly appearing across CNN ­programming including “New Day,” "Newsroom," “Situation Room”, "AC360" and "CNN Tonight." Sunny joined CNN in September 2007 as the legal analyst for CNN's morning show where she became known for her in-depth analysis of headline grabbing trials and legal issues. She created, wrote and co-produced her popular weekly segment, “Sunny's Law,” which answered viewer questions on various topics including homeowner's rights when faced with foreclosure, how to survive a police encounter, and who gets the ring after a broken engagement.

As a Department of Justice alum, her deep knowledge of the Justice Department and its inner workings made her an invaluable part of the CNN morning team during and after the historic election of President Barack Obama. Sunny reported on potential cabinet picks including correctly predicting that Eric Holder would be selected as the next Attorney General.

Sunny has covered many of the major legal and political stories of today, including the George Zimmerman, Casey Anthony and Conrad Murray trials, and was on the ground to cover the unrest in Ferguson and Baltimore and the tragic shootings in Charleston, South Carolina.

Before joining CNN, Sunny was an ABC News anchor (World News Now/America This Morning) and appeared on the Fox News Channel, where she was seen weekly on the “Is It Legal” segment on “The O'Reilly Factor,” sparring with Megan Kelly and Bill O'Reilly on various provocative issues and high-profile cases. She has been a competitor on The Food Network's “Chopped” and “Chopped Redemption” (making it to the final round both times). Sunny is currently the Senior Legal Correspondent and Analyst for ABC News and a co-host on ABC Daytime's “The View”.

She has published numerous popular and scholarly articles in many outlets on topics including securities fraud, Ponzi schemes, sex crimes, crimes against women, foreclosures, and everyday financial legal issues. Publications that have profiled, featured and quoted her include Forbes Woman, Uptown Magazine, Essence, The New York Post, WSJ.com, Latina, and Ebony. Sunny is a highly sought after public speaker known for her lively and engaging speaking style at corporate and academic events. She has spoken and moderated panels for the Investigative Reporting Symposium at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Association of Corporate Counsel, Corporate Counsel Women of Color, PRLDF, National Bar Association, Urban League and the Syracuse S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.  Sunny's TedX popular talk, “A Possibility model” has been viewed thousands of times.

As a federal prosecutor, she was awarded a Special Achievement Award by then Attorney General Janet Reno for her prosecution of child sexual predators and work with child sex abuse. Sunny was also a Managin Director of Business Intelligence and Investigations at Kroll, the world's leading risk-consulting company. At Kroll, she led groups of investigators all over the world to investigate and uncover fraud. She received her undergraduate degree in Communications/Journalism from Binghamton University and her law degree from Notre Dame Law School. A native of New York City, Hostin lives with her husband and two children in Westchester County, New York.

Sunny Hostin will receive the HOLA Excellence in Media Award at the 2016 HOLA Awards on Wednesday, November 2, 2016. For more information, click here.