About

Samy Nemir Olivares (they/them/elles) is a genderqueer, Puerto Rican and Dominican writer, poet, public speaker, advocate for human rights, artist, and healing guide.  

Samy realized the healing power of writing when at age seven, they wrote a letter to their father using a typewriter. Samy’s poetry has been featured in New York Poetry Review and has been presented at FuerzaFest, Bowery Poetry, and the prestigious New York Poetry Festival. Their writing and photography has been featured in The New York Times, Huffington Post, Vogue, and Teen Vogue, including Vogue’s first-ever article translated into Spanish. They have also appeared on TV news and shows like Telemundo and Univision, oftentimes educating the Latine community about  issues regarding  LGBTQ+ rights, politics, and social justice.

As a public speaker and advocate, Samy has spoken at institutions like: the United Nations, The City University of New York (CUNY), Cardozo Law School, Twitter, Accenture, and Planned Parenthood. They also founded Cuir Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm, which is home to Thrive, an advocacy program for young people. 

Samy migrated to New York from Puerto Rico in 2014, where they started working at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, CENTRO at CUNY, and producing TV show, “Puerto Rican Voices”. In 2016, they joined Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, working as a Strategist for the Latino Community. In 2017, Samy worked at the Center for Popular Democracy, advocating for women’s rights, immigrants, workers, and students. Later, Samy ran for office in Brooklyn, New York as District Leader and later ran for office as the first genderqueer candidate for the New York State Assembly, advocating for housing, healthcare, and education as human rights. Today, Samy works as a communications advocate at a national LGBTQ+ civil rights nonprofit, and serves on a number of boards, such as Equality NY and United We Dream.

They have been named one of the Power Latino 100 honorees as well as among the Brooklyn Power 100 and Pride 100 in 2022, by City and State. 

Samy lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn and loves dancing salsa, traveling, cooking, and watching drag shows. They are the sibling of poet and advocate, Myr Olivares.