Samantha Velasquez-Knowles (she/her) is a bilingual, bi-racial Latinx mother living in West Virginia with her family. Samantha is a survivor and former chef who has witnessed firsthand the injustices and gender-based violence so prevalent in the culinary industry. Samantha is defined by her compassion, commitment to community, and unique attunement to the needs of survivors. She is passionate about empowering survivors to find their strength and confidence to realize change and freedom from toxic work environments dominated by cis-hetero-patriarchy. As a trauma-informed organizer, Samantha is dedicated to organizing with and learning from other survivors within the Survivors Know community.