Stephanie Manriquez
Stephanie Manriquez (she/her) is an award-winning writer, radio producer, journalist, and teaching artist based in Chicago. She sees storytelling as a radical act for BIPOC communities and has committed herself to develop spaces for diverse voices to be heard with a larger goal of increasing representation on public and alternative radio. As a journalist, she consistently speaks on topics that most affect her communities, and, as an educator, she is passionate about mentoring the next generation of media makers, helping them to become civically minded and artistically innovative.
Documenting current events in public radio during her time at Radio Arte allowed Stephanie to creatively shed light on social justice issues affecting Latino communities. Stephanie has reported on issues such as adult education, literacy, housing, mental health, and migration. She has also worked closely with community organizations and collaborated with several publications. Her extended collaboration with Contratiempo since 2010, has allowed her to focus efforts on issues concerning Little Village and Pilsen’s immigrant communities, development, arts, and culture. Her previous work includes leading the National Museum of Mexican Arts youth radio journalism program and being a reporter and youth mentor as a Social Justice News Nexus Fellow at Northwestern University.
Currently, she is the Executive Director at Contratiempo, a literary organization that highlights the cultural contributions of the Spanish-speaking diaspora through programs presented as a printed magazine, digital publication, airwaves, stage, and workshops. Also the Director of Lumpen Radio, Stephanie serves as the lead producer for the community radio station and highlights multilingual content through their leadership of the Communities Amplified radio initiative.
She was recognized in 2020 by the Field Foundation and MacArthur Foundation as one of 11 "Leaders for a New Chicago” and in 2023 received the “Public Humanities Award” from Illinois Humanities.
Featured Artworks
Lumpen Radio
Building Power
Building Power