Samala is a creative leader whose mediums run the gamut from venture capital to vinyl records. She is currently Head of Community & Culture at Unshackled Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm for immigrant-founded startups.
Her work and writing in technology, culture, and civics has been featured at the Obama White House and in publications like The New York Times, Forbes, The New Yorker, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, TechCrunch, Al-Jazeera and Refinery29. Her work at has also been recognized by NBC, Congress, and California Legislature.
Samala served as Senior Advisor for Social Innovation for Mozilla, cContributor to the Aspen Institute’s Latinos and Society Program, Member of New Media Ventures’ Investment Committee, and Member of the World Food Programme’s Innovation Accelerator Advisory Council. She is currently a Board Director with Monument Lab and Advisor to the New School’s The Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy.
When she isn’t working at the nexus of venture capital, community, and immigration, you can catch her on stages doing public speaking engagement and being Founder & Resident DJ of the longest running 90s dance party on the West Coast alongside her world-renowned DJ collective, Rebel Joy.