Nathalie Rayes is the President and CEO of Latino Victory, a progressive organization working to grow Latino political power by increasing Latino representation at every level of government and building a base of Latino donors to support this critical work.
Formerly, Nathalie was Vice President of Public Affairs for Grupo Salinas in the U.S., a Mexican conglomerate with US$6 billion in annual sales and 90,000 employees in Mexico, the United States, and Central and South America, and with operations in the broadcasting, retail, banking and financial services, telecommunications and internet. In that role, Nathalie was in charge of Grupo Salinas’ philanthropic activities in the United States, which seek to improve the quality of life of Latinos by partnering with existing nonprofits to empower, create awareness and motivate change on social and civic issues.
Previously, Nathalie served as Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn Deputy Chief of Staff, directing the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations, serving as chief liaison to federal, state and regional governments and to the Los Angeles City Council, International Trade, Protocol, Immigrant Affairs, as well as Mayor’s appointments to City commissions and boards. Prior to that, she was Senior Policy Advisor to Los Angeles Councilmember Mike Feuer, heading all aspects of Councilmember’s activities with respect to citywide legislation and ordinances impacting the Fifth Council District. Nathalie also served as a Department of State Fellow in the Economic/Political Section of the United States Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
Nathalie serves as a United States Presidential appointee to the Board of Trustees of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, she is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Federation, as well as Chair of the Binational Advisory Group for Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) Binational Fellowship, and member of the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Nathalie was recognized in the Huffington Post “40 Under 40 Latinos in Foreign Policy” in 2015. She is the recipient of UCLA Masters in Public Policy Alumna of the Year 2014, Santa Monica College Distinguished Alumna Recognition Award for Outstanding Professional and Community Service Achievement of 2013, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality “Ray of Hope” award of 2015, and 2012 “Mujeres Destacadas Award” a recognition given annually by El Diario La Prensa to the most outstanding women in our community. She is also a Fellow of the Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative, the leading cross-sectional leadership development program in the Asia-Pacific region.
Nathalie has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology cum laude and a Master’s in Public Policy with concentrations in International Relations and Education from UCLA. She is fluent in Spanish and conversational Arabic. She resides in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts with her husband, Dr. Tarek Samad, their young sons, and their Bernedoodle, Duke.
