The third annual AL DÍA 40 Under Forty event serves to highlight and showcase some of the most diverse and impactful young professionals across the Philadelphia region. 

At this year's event, taking place Friday, Aug. 26, Samantha Rivera Joseph will be one of the 40 honorees. 

Biography

Samantha Rivera Joseph is a community-informed mixed methods researcher with a focus on implementation science and urban health equity.

Her work focuses on community trauma as a result of adverse community experiences and structural determinants with her dissertation focusing on community-level trauma in urban communities of color that experience high levels of structural disadvantages. 

In her role as Director of Implementation Science, Rivera Joseph is responsible for developing a framework to ensure equity and primary prevention across the City’s child welfare and family support systems.

She also serves as the Treasurer for the Latino Caucus for Public Health and Vice-Chair of the Board for the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia. 

As part of the lead-up to the AL DÍA 40 Under Forty event, AL DÍA asked each of the honorees a set of identical questions and collected their responses. 

Here are Samantha Rivera Joseph's responses: 

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your professional career? 

The biggest challenge I have experienced and continue to experience is navigating the requirements of funders and external decision-makers while addressing the true needs and concerns of communities that have been structurally and historically disenfranchised.

What are steps that can be taken to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in your industry? Why is it important to do so?

Unfortunately, DEI has become a buzz term that has lost much of its power and purpose. To address the lack of representation in the workforce, employers need to be honest about their commitments to anti-racism and inclusivity and do the hard work to create safe work environments including eliminating wage gaps.

What does being a leader mean to you? 

Being a leader is about being a change-maker. A leader is committed to innovation and progression while also inspiring others to challenge the status quo.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In five years, I can envision myself as a national leader and change agent working to promote equitable systems transformation. I will have built a strong reputation of enhancing data-driven and community-informed strategies to eliminate disparities that burden urban communities of color.

The 2022 AL DÍA 40 Under Forty event will take place Friday, Aug. 26 at The Vie at Cescaphe. To learn more or purchase your ticket, click here.