The daughter of Central American immigrants, Samantha grew up in Marin County in California and attended Venetia Valley (named Gallinas at the time) for elementary and middle school. She then attended Terra Linda HS and graduated in 2007 from San Rafael High School. During high school, she worked with the Marin County Youth Commission. She went on to City College of San Francisco where she was a member of the first cohort of the Metro Health Academy. In 2012, she received a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from San Francisco State University.
Samantha has worked for Huckleberry Youth Programs in their health education and college access program, Wellness Academy. She was the site coordinator of Venetia Valley’s LEAP after school enrichment program serving 87 students from 2-5th grade. She is extremely familiar with the experience of students of color in Marin and loves being able to work in the same community she grew up in.
In her free time, Samantha is an avid dancer and enjoys mountain biking and eating Amicis. Samantha serves on the Marin County Women’s Commission where she helps plan the Marin Teen Girl Conference. She is also a board member for Community Action Marin, a non-profit that supports low income families so they can thrive. Samantha coordinates the Marin County Youth Commission.