Lideres Latinx! Hispanic Heritage Month Spotlight: Samantha Nunez

Samantha Nuñez was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. As an adolescent, she was hyper-aware of her affinity for writing, uplifting others and educating those around her to help them grow. It was back in 2009, at the tender age of 11, at her very first event volunteering to talk to Latinos about the switch from antennas to cable boxes, that Samantha found her passions for advocacy, educating, and being a leader.

Throughout her teen years, she would dedicate her time to volunteering within her community and would continue this work into her collegiate career. Samantha later went on to join the University of Southern California’s Trojan Transfer Program. In her first year of college, she attended a university in Rome, Italy where she spent time volunteering at Migrant Lives with those fundamentally displaced by poverty, persecution, and civil unrest. Upon her return to the states, she did a year-long stint in community college and was later accepted into the University of Southern California. On top of pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, she began her master’s degree in communication management in her junior year and would later graduate as a double Trojan.

Since then, she’s become a powerhouse in all things multimedia, marketing, and corporate communications. In 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, she focused on freelancing for various non-profit organizations that advocated for civil rights. At this time in Los Angeles, there was civil unrest and through her writing, she was able to continue her work of advocacy for those in the Black and Brown communities.

She currently works as the Director of Marketing and Social Media of the James Beard Award-winning, independent local food, new and culture site, L.A. TACO. She also serves as an adjunct professor at Santa Monica College where she teaches the importance of social media engagement within journalism for the Corsair, the student-led newspaper.

She continues to live in the San Fernando Valley with her dog Joy and her cat Piquín (who is named after a chile). She is committed to continuing her work of advocacy, educating, and uplifting others within her community as she continues to evolve in her career.