Founder, Futuro Media | Co-Host, In The Thick 

As a reporter who was the first Latina in many newsrooms, Pulitzer Prize winner Maria Hinojosa dreamt of a space where she could create independent, multimedia journalism that explores and gives a critical voice to the diverse American experience. To that end, in 2010, she created Futuro Media, an independent, nonprofit organization based in Harlem, NYC with the mission to create multimedia content for and about the new American mainstream in the service of empowering people to navigate the complexities of an increasingly diverse and connected world.

As the Anchor and Executive Producer of the Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA, distributed by NPR, as well as Co-Host of In The Thick, the Futuro Media’s new political podcast, Hinojosa has informed millions about the changing cultural and political landscape in America and abroad. Hinojosa is also Anchor and Executive Producer of the PBS show America By The Numbers, the first national television series to examine our country’s dramatic demographic shifts, and Humanizing America, a digital video series that deconstructs stereotypes about the American electorate. She is also a new contributor to the long-running, award-winning news program CBS Sunday Morning and a frequent guest on MSNBC.

Hinojosa’s nearly 30-year career as an award-winning journalist includes reporting for PBS, CBS, WNBC, CNN, NPR, and anchoring the Emmy Award winning talk show Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One. She is the author of two books and has won dozens of awards, including: four Emmys, the John Chancellor Award, the Studs Terkel Community Media Award, two Robert F. Kennedy Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Ruben Salazar Lifetime Achievement Award. Hinojosa was the first Latina to anchor a PBS FRONTLINE report: “Lost in Detention” which aired in October 2011 and explored abuse at immigrant detention facilities, garnering attention from Capitol Hill as well as both the mainstream and Spanish-language media.

Hinojosa has reported hundreds of important stories—from the restrictive immigration policies in Fremont, Nebraska, to the effects of the oil boom on Native people in North Dakota, to stories of poverty in Alabama. As a reporter for NPR, Hinojosa was among the first to report on youth violence in urban communities on a national scale. During her eight years as CNN’s urban affairs correspondent, Hinojosa often took viewers into communities rarely shown on television. Now at Futuro Media, Hinojosa continues to bring attention to experiences and points of view that are often overlooked or underreported in mainstream media, all while mentoring the next generation of diverse journalists to delve into authentic and nuanced stories that impact their communities. She is currently the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Chair of Latin American and Latino Studies at DePaul University in Chicago and lives with her husband, son, and daughter in Harlem, New York.

Co-CEO and Co-Executive Director | Head of News and Investigations

Peniley Ramírez is an Emmy and IRE-award-winning investigative journalist and author. She serves as Executive Producer of Latino USA, Futuro Investigates, and Special Projects at Futuro Media and writes a weekly column for the Mexican media group Reforma. Before joining Futuro, she worked as an investigative correspondent for Univision, where she was part of global projects, such as the Pulitzer award-winning “Panama Papers.” She wrote an acclaimed book about dirty money in the war on drugs. Her reporting has led to several official investigations of politicians and business people in the U.S. and Latin America. She was awarded an Emmy and a Sigma Delta Chi Award for investigative reporting. Under her leadership, Futuro Investigates has won the Investigative Reporters and Editors, Imagen, and Nonprofit News awards. She has a Master of Arts in Business and Economics Journalism from Columbia University.

Co-Host

Dr. Christina Greer is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, Lincoln Center (Manhattan) campus. Her research and teaching focus on American politics, Black ethnic politics, campaigns and elections, and public opinion. She is the author of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream and co-editor of Black Politics in Transition: Immigration, Suburbanization, and Gentrification. Greer writes a weekly column for The Amsterdam News, and is a frequent political commentator on several media outlets. She is the co-host of the New York centered podcast FAQ-NYC. Her forthcoming manuscript “How to build a democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” is forthcoming this fall.

Co-Host 

Paola Ramos is an author and Emmy-Award winning journalist. Ramos is a contributor for Telemundo News and MSNBC, where she is the host of “Field Report.” Ramos was a former Corresponded for Vice News for years. Before her career in journalism, she was the former Deputy Director of Hispanic Media for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential Campaign, a political appointee during the Obama Administration and also served in President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

She is the author of “Finding Latin-X: In Search of the Voices redefining Latino Identity,” published by Penguin Random House. Ramos has a new book coming out on September 24th, 2024, titled “DEFECTORS: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and what It Means for America.”

Ramos is a former Hauser Leader in the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, where she received her master’s in public policy. she received her B.A. from Barnard College.

Co-Host

Judy Reyes is a diversely talented actor known for her vast body of work across television and film.

Judy can be seen in Hannah Marks’ Turtles All the Way Down alongside Isabela Merced and J. Smith Cameron. Adapted from the John Green novel of the same name, the story follows ‘Aza Holmes’ (Merced), a 16-year-old with obsessive–compulsive disorder who pursues the disappearance of a billionaire. Judy plays ‘Gina Holmes,’ Aza’s mother who witnesses and copes firsthand with her disorder. Max will release the film in Spring 2024.

This fall, Judy will be seen in ABC’s High Potential opposite Kaitlin Olsen and Daniel Sunjata. The series follows single mom ‘Morgan’ (Olsen) with an exceptional mind, whose unconventional knack for solving crimes leads to an unusual and unstoppable partnership with a by-the-book seasoned detective, ‘Adam’ (Sunjata). Judy plays ‘Selena,’ Adam’s boss and the police captain in charge of the Major Crimes division. The series is based on the popular French detective series HIP (High Intellectual Potential).

Judy can also be seen starring in Laura Moss’ Birth/Rebirth opposite Marin Ireland. The film centers on ‘Celie’ (Reyes), a single mother and a childless morgue technician (Ireland), who are bound together by their relationship to a little girl they have reanimated from the dead. For her role in the film, Judy was nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Lead Performance.

 Judy is best known for her role as nurse ‘Carla Espinoza’ on NBC’s comedy Scrubs, opposite Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, and Donald Faison. The series received 17 Emmy nominations over its 9 seasons, and Judy was nominated for four ALMA (American Latino Media Arts) Awards for her performance, winning two. Judy is also known for her role as Zoila Diaz in the Lifetime comedy-drama series Devious Maids.

A true working actor, Judy’s many recurring television credits include Peacock’s Dr. Death; Amazon Prime Video’s The Horror of Dolores Roach; FX’s Better Things; HBO’s Search Party; Netflix’s One Day at a Time; The CW’s Jane the Virgin; and TBS and HBO’s Oz. Judy has also guest starred on many notable series including The CW’s Batwoman; ABC’s Black-ish; HBO’s Succession; CBS’s The Good Wife; ABC’s Fresh Off The Boat; HBO’s The Sopranos; ABC’s NYPD Blue; NBC’s Law & Order; ABC’s Castle; TNT’s Claws; CBS and NBC’s Medium; and ABC’s Off the Map. She has also starred in a number of made-for-television movies, primarily for Lifetime network, including Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story (2008), The Pregnancy Project (2012), and Torn from Her Arms (2011), the latter of which she was for an Imagen Awards for Best Actress – Drama for her performance.

Judy has also appeared in films across a variety of genres, including Parker Finn’s Smile opposite Sosie Bacon; Brett Haley’s All Together Now alongside Auli’I Cravallho, Justina Machado, and Fred Armisen; James Ponsoldt’s The Circle alongside Emma Watson and Tom Hanks; Dorie Barton’s Girl Flu; Chris Gallego Wong’s My Name is David opposite Keith Powell; Gabriela Tagliavini’s Without Men alongside Eva Longoria and Christian Slater; Rashaad Ernesto Green’s Gun Hill Road alongside Esai Morales and Harmony Santana; Chris Fisher’s Dirty alongside Clifton Collins Jr. and Cuba Gooding Jr.; Peter Riegert’s King of the Corner wotj Isabella Rossellini; Alfredo De Villa’s Washington Heights;  Seth Zvi Rosenfeld’s The King of the Jungle alongside John Leguizamo, Marisa Tomei, and Rosie Perez; Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out The Dead alongside Nicolas Cage and Patricia Arquette; and Richard Schenkman’s Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God… Be Back by Five.

Off-screen, Judy is a proud member of the LAByrinth Theater Company since its inception. Originally founded in 1992 as Latino Actors Base (LAB), the Off-Broadway ensemble-driven company aims to tell more inclusive original stories that expand the boundaries of mainstream theater. Members have included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Rockwell, Ethan Hawke, Pedro Pascal, Michael Shannon, Stephen Adly Guirgis, John Ortiz, David Zayas, Liza Colon Zayas, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Ana Ortiz, Marlene Forte, Bobby Cannavale, and many more.

Judy lives in Los Angeles.

Director of Engineering/Sound Designer

Stephanie Lebow is the Director of Engineering/Sound Designer across Futuro Media’s properties and the voice of Futuro’s funders.

She is a Peabody award-winning audio engineer for her work on Afropop Worldwide. She found her passion for radio at Indie 103.1 FM in LA, as an engineer, producer, and on-air personality.

She has mixed and produced music in a multitude of genres from jazz to pop, and received an independent music award for her work. She has also mixed and done sound sweetening for indie films and documentary series such as America By The Numbers and Miss Sharon Jones!

She graduated from Emerson College with a major in Audio Production and a minor in Broadcast Journalism. When she’s not using ProTools to build radio shows, she uses it as an instrument in her own electronic/indie project Stef Lebaux.

Senior Audio Engineer

Julia Caruso got her start in radio as a broadcast engineer for CBS Radio. Prior to working at Futuro Media, she was the Studio Manager for the Music Technology program at New York University overseeing the recording studios and mentoring students. She is an active member of the Audio Engineering Society and has been on the convention committee for their annual international convention in NYC for several years. She holds a bachelor degree in Music Technology and a masters degree in Food Studies, both from NYU. Learning about culture through food and music is a passion of hers.

Lead Producer

Ariel Goodman is an award winning bilingual journalist, editor, filmmaker and community media practitioner with over a decade of experience crafting compelling stories that uplift and center the voices of people on the frontlines of the struggle for justice.Ariel has worked as a senior editor, an investigative journalist, a podcast and documentary producer. Her journalism has appeared in outlets such as ProPublica, The Marshall Project, Democracy Now!, The Associated Press, El País, Univision, Futuro Media and more.When she’s not doing journalism, you can find her playing clarinet and singing in her 8-piece Cumbia Klezmer Punk band Las Mariposas Galácticas.

Marketing Manager

Luis Luna joins Futuro Media Group after working in the Theatrical Department at film distributor GKIDS. He has also worked on the programming teams at various film festivals, including Hamptons International Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, and others. He received a dual B.A. in Film Studies and English from Hunter College. Born and raised in Jackson Heights, his favorite things include queer cinema, world travel, dancing to Rihanna, and a good cemita.