Yuri Cunza is an American social entrepreneur, media professional, journalist, visual artist, business leader, and community advocate. Cunza currently serves as President and CEO of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and is founder and editor in chief of the Spanish language newspaper La Noticia and owner of Y&K a media support and consulting services company based in Nashville. In September 2018, Yuri Cunza was selected to serve on the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. The USHCC is the largest Hispanic business organization in the United States. It was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Washington, DC. The chamber promotes the economic growth and development of entrepreneurs and represents the interests of nearly 4.37 million Hispanic owned businesses in the US that contribute in excess of $700 billion to the American economy.
Yuri Cunza is co-founder of the NAHCC Foundation which was constituted in 2008 and exists to advance educational opportunities for Hispanic youth and to inspire children interest in future discoveries and technologies to combat issues that force families and individuals into economic despair. Cunza's humanitarian work includes his advocacy of finding a resolution for the socio-economic disparities of Hispanics in the U.S. He is also a member of the Tennessee Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, The Partnership For A New American Economy, and in the Steering Committee of Main Street -TN Growth & Opportunity Coalition.
Biography
Cunza trained in acting at the International Theater Institute (ITI-UNESCO) and Peruvian Theater Center (CPT) in Lima, Peru. He later earned a scholarship to continue his studies under the guidance of veteran director and educator Eduardo Navarro. He continued his involvement in theater, film and television in his native Peru and later as a Producer/Director in Argentina while attending medical school at the Universidad del Nordeste in Corrientes, Argentina. He later continued his studies in the U.S. earning a B.F.A in Film Directing from Watkins College of Art & Design in 2003.
After he graduated from Saint Norbert high-school a private Catholic school in Lima, Peru, he spent almost a year in Paraguay while awaiting a student exchange program visa to attend medical school at Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE) in the city of Corrientes, Argentina from 1989 to 1992.
Cunza moved to Nashville to reside permanently in 1996. He continued his education at Watkins College of Art & Design earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree and Film Directing. His professional experience includes the series Mujeres Sin Fronteras (Women without Frontiers) for CVC- Argentina. In 2000 Cunza produced Hispanos de Hoy, a weekly bilingual television segment with him as primary host thanks to veteran television personality Teresa Hannah for the local NBC affiliate WSMV-Channel 4 Nashville.
Cunza's perspective on diversity issues has been influenced by living in different Latin-American countries appearing reflected in his work: 'rich in powerful messages of strong social content'. Under the Skin a documentary he wrote, directed and produced in 2001 takes a profound look into the dynamics of racial diversity in human relations -representing accurately America's multicultural dimension. The official selection of the Nashville Independent Film Festival in 2002 and the 2003 International Film Forum, Under the Skin was premiered on WSMV Ch-4 Nashville on July 8, 2001.
Cunza] is an active advocate of Hispanic business development and growth as well as of immigrant and civil rights causes in Middle Tennessee. His comments have been featured in several English language publications and media outlets including TN Business, The Tennessean, The City Paper, The Nashville Business Journal, American Renaissance, the SCENE, The Associated Press, Reuters, Channels, 2, 4, 5 and 17, National Public Radio (NPR), WPLN and Radio Free Nashville. In 2006-07 Cunza began production of "Pulso Mundial" (Worlds' Pulse) Nashville's first bilingual hour long radio program which aired Friday morning on 98.9 FM.