DECATUR, Ill. – Millikin University is honored to welcome Samantha Ramirez-Herrera, a noted filmmaker and civil rights activist, to campus for the T.W. Samuels Lecture on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. at the University Commons' Bob and Debi Johnston Banquet Room. Ramirez-Herrera’s presentation will be a part of Millikin’s Hispanic Heritage Month events and sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Student Affairs, and the Samuels Lecture Endowment.
Samantha “Sam” Ramirez-Herrera is an entrepreneur, filmmaker, creative director, writer, mother, feminist, and civil rights activist. While she wears many hats, at her core, Sam is a storyteller.
Storytelling is the heartbeat of her company, OffThaRecord.com (OTR), a creative content agency and digital magazine headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. At OTR, Sam has built a network of creative multicultural millennials who use their talents and technology to tell raw, uncensored and authentic stories to uplift marginalized communities and promote purpose-driven brands, nonprofits and change-makers.
"We are honored to welcome Samantha “Sam” Ramirez-Herrera to Millikin University during Hispanic Heritage Month. Sam’s story and work embody the resilience, creativity, and leadership that this month celebrates,” said Interim Provost Dr. Nancy Curtin. “Her voice not only inspires our students to pursue their dreams with courage but also reminds us of the importance of honoring and learning from the diverse cultural traditions that strengthen our campus and our communities."
Sam was seven years old when her parents decided to move the family from Mexico City to the United States, seeking a better life. As an undocumented immigrant, she grew up in the shadows, working hard to get ahead while at the same time fearing the possibility of discovery and deportation. After graduating high school, she waited tables and worked other jobs to make ends meet before becoming a DREAMer, thanks to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
After starting a successful YouTube channel, Sam officially launched OTR in 2015, working out of a small office at an advertising agency in downtown Atlanta. That same year, she started the Kick Ass Girl Pow Wow (KAGPW), a digital platform that celebrates girls and women of diverse backgrounds, cultures, ages and career paths.
During Sam’s Millikin appearance, she will touch on resilience, change, transformation, she will touch on resilience, change, transformation and reconnecting with her roots through poetry and self-discovery.
She has appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews as well as in Forbes, Mundo Hispanico, AFROPUNK, and The Collegian.
About the T.W. Samuels Lecture Series
The T. W. Samuels Lecture Series was created in 1977 in honor of attorney T.W. Samuels, senior partner in the Decatur law firm of Samuels, Miller, Schroeder, Jackson and Sly. Samuels was active in Decatur community affairs until his death in 1989 at age 103. Samuels’ sons, William J. Samuels of Menlo Park, Calif., and the late Dr. Thomas W. Samuels Jr., then created an endowment fund to finance the series in recognition of their father. The endowment is used to bring great thinkers and speakers to Millikin for the purpose of community enrichment.
