Monica Salazar

Born and raised in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley surrounded by people from across the globe interested in the latest and greatest technology the Bay had to offer, Monica found herself more interested in the people the industry brought in rather than the technology it produced.

After leaving the Bay to study English at University of Portland, she joined The Immigrant Story as a writer, interviewing local immigrants about their experiences coming to the United States.

Sparked by that same interest she had at home about how people got to be where they are, Monica wanted to continue talking to people and writing about them and landed, or rather stumbled into, a job as a reporter for a local newspaper.

After a year of working, however, she wanted more ways to share stories than just through writing. Now attending University of Oregon’s Multimedia Journalism program and working with The Immigrant Story to produce their podcast, Many Roads to Here, Monica hopes to develop new skills in videography and audio storytelling that will help her share stories from immigrant and minority communities.