Stephanie Manriquez

Producer and Educator

2024 3Arts Awards

Teaching Arts

Stephanie Manriquez (she/her) is an award-winning writer, radio producer, journalist, and teaching artist based in Chicago. She sees storytelling as a radical act for BIPOC communities and has committed herself to developing spaces for diverse voices to be heard with a larger goal of increasing representation on public and alternative radio. As a journalist, she consistently speaks on topics that most affect her communities, and as an educator, she is passionate about mentoring the next generation of media makers, helping them to become civically minded and artistically innovative.

Documenting current events in public radio during her time at Radio Arte allowed Stephanie to creatively shed light on social justice issues affecting Latino communities. Stephanie has reported on issues such as adult education, literacy, housing, mental health, and migration. She has also worked closely with community organizations and collaborated with several publications. Her extended collaboration with Contratiempo since 2010, has allowed her to focus efforts on issues concerning Little Village and Pilsen’s immigrant communities, development, arts, and culture. Her previous work includes leading the National Museum of Mexican Arts youth radio journalism program and being a reporter and youth mentor as a Social Justice News Nexus Fellow at Northwestern University.

Currently, she is the Executive Director at Contratiempo, a literary organization that highlights the cultural contributions of the Spanish-speaking diaspora through programs presented as a printed magazine, digital publication, airwaves, stage, and workshops. As the Director of Lumpen Radio, Stephanie serves as the lead producer for the community radio station and highlights multilingual content through their leadership of the Communities Amplified radio initiative.

She was recognized in 2020 by the Field Foundation and MacArthur Foundation as one of 11 "Leaders for a New Chicago” and in 2023 received the “Public Humanities Award” from Illinois Humanities.

Profile caption: Image by Sandra Oviedo / Colectivo Multipolar

Stephanie Manriquez's Website

group of students and teacher pose in radio booth

Featured Artworks

A group of students sit in a radio recording studio. They are listening to Stephanie speak and are lit by a neon blue hand hanging in the back.

FM Waves to Activism: Latinx Empowerment through Community Radio Students at Lumpen Radio, learning about community raadio and studio equipment Photo by Colectivo Multipolar

Two people sit in a radio recording studio chatting. Behind them is a banner that reads: LUMPEN RADIO

From FM Waves to Activism Radio Show, Fall 2025 Collaborative Project with DePaul University: Humanities X Fellowship Photo by Colectivo Multipolar

A group of people pose for a group photo.

From FM Waves to Activism: Latinx Empowerment through Community Radio, Fall 2025 Collaborative Project with DePaul University: Humanities X Fellowship Led by Stephanie Manriquez and Yoalli Rodríguez

A group of people stand and chat at a gallery opening. On the wall are a selection of illustrated images.

Through Your Years: Generations on Air, Spring 2025 Collaborative Project with Yollocalli Arts Reach and Innovation80: CoGen Program Photo by Colectivo Multipolar

Through Your Years: Generations on Air Intergenerational participants collaging their journals to reflect on memories, and community conversations

group of people sit around table working on project

Pop Up Youth Radio Students broadcasting live at the National Musuem of Mexican Arts