Patricia Nazario

Patricia Nazario is an award-winning bilingual journalist and filmmaker whose work delves into the complexities of the American Dream. A UCLA alumna with a master’s from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, she has garnered over 30 prestigious awards, including five Golden Mikes, two Special Congressional Recognitions, and honors from the Associated Press.

Her reporting career spans critical events such as the 9/11 attacks in New York, Florida’s hurricane crises, and Argentina’s 2001 economic collapse. Notably, her in-depth coverage of Miami’s Cuban-American community earned WLRN 89.3 its first statewide award.

Drawing from her upbringing in a blue-collar Los Angeles neighborhood, Nazario was inspired to create the award-winning documentary, Backstreet to the American Dream, which reframes the American narrative about Latino immigrants through the $2 billion global food truck boom. Championed by Jarritos and Executive Producer Dolores Huerta — a Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree — for building empathy and common ground, the bilingual feature has been showcased at 14 film festivals, including Dances With Films, Newport Beach, Workers Unite-NYC, and Ethnografilm Paris, earning 16 top awards such as Best Documentary (twice), Best Food Film, and a Humanitarian Award.

Beyond filmmaking, Nazario has produced international stories for NPR and Marketplace, BBC’s The World covering topics from the HIV/AIDS crisis in Colombia to child labor in Ecuador. Her storytelling seamlessly blends journalistic rigor with cinematic vision, shedding light on issues of culture, politics, and human rights.

Through her work, Patricia Nazario continues to challenge stereotypes and foster dialogue, redefining the deeply human quest for the American Dream — the pursuit of freedom, equal opportunity and dignity for a diverse and evolving society.