Yuri Cunza is a Hispanic-American writer, filmmaker, journalist, visual artist, business advocate and community leader. Cunza serves as President and CEO of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and is co-founder and editor in chief of the Spanish language newspaper La Noticia and owner of Y&K Entertainment a film production and media consulting company based in Nashville.
Cunza trained in acting at the International Theater Institute (ITI-UNESCO) and Peruvian Theater Center (CPT) in Lima, Peru. He later earned a scholarship to continue his studies under the guidance of Peruvian Director Eduardo Navarro. He continued his involvement in theater, film and television in his native Peru and later as a Producer/Director in Argentina while attending medical school at the Universidad del Nordeste in Corrientes, Argentina. He later continued his studies in the U.S. earning a B.F.A in Film Directing from Watkins College of Art & Design in 2003.
After he graduated from Saint Norbert high-school a private Catholic school in Lima, Peru, he spent almost a year in Paraguay while awaiting a student exchange program visa to attend medical school at Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE) in the city of Corrientes, Argentina from 1989 to 1992.
Cunza moved to Nashville to reside permanently in 1996. He continued his education at Watkins College of Art & Design earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree and Film Directing. His professional experience includes films such as “Conflicto Emocional” (Emotional Conflict) and the series “Mujeres Sin Fronteras” (Women without Frontiers) for CVC- Argentina. In 2000 Cunza produced “Hispanos de Hoy”, a weekly bilingual television segment with him as primary host thanks to veteran television personality Teresa Hannah for the local NBC affiliate WSMV-Channel 4 Nashville.
Yuri Cunza’s perspective on diversity issues has been influenced by living in different Latin-American countries appearing reflected in his work: ‘rich in powerful messages of strong social content’. “Under the Skin” a documentary he wrote, directed and produced in 2001 takes a profound look into the dynamics of racial diversity in human relations -representing accurately America's multicultural dimension. The official selection of the Nashville Independent Film Festival in 2002 and the 2003 International Film Forum, was premiered on WSMV Ch-4 Nashville on July 8, 2001.
Yuri Cunza has been an active advocate of Hispanic business development and growth as well as of immigrant and civil rights causes in Middle Tennessee. He as become a powerful voice for Nashville’s growing Latino community. His comments and perspectives about some of the most controversial issues involving culture, diversity and immigrant populations have been featured in several English language publications and media outlets including TN Business, The Tennessean, The City Paper, The Nashville Business Journal, American Renaissance, the SCENE, The Associated Press, Reuters, Channels, 2, 4, 5 and 17, National Public Radio (NPR), WPLN and Radio Free Nashville. In 2006-07 Cunza began production of “Pulso Mundial” (Worlds’ Pulse) Nashville’s first bilingual hour long radio program which aired Friday morning on 98.9 FM.
Yuri Cunza has served on the advisory board for Scarritt-Bennett Center’s “Celebration of Cultures”, the National Academy of Television Arts & Science’s board of Governors and the board of directors for the Belcourt Theatre, The Nashville Film Festival, and the American Red Cross and more than a dozen more other organizations; ranging from business, health, non-profit, arts and culture. Cunza is a member of many national organization including the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and The National Council LA RAZA. Locally he is a new member of the Downtown Nashville Rotary Club among civic groups and served on the boards of the HIV/AIDS research based Comprehensive Care Center and Street Works, the Metro General Hospital’s “Friends in General Board”. Yuri served one term as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce from 2004 to 2006.
Yuri Cunza was elected last July 2010 as Council Member at Large to the Nashville branch of the Screen Actors Guild. He serves on the board of Historic Nashville Inc, Sister Cities of Nashville and Community-based AIDS service organization Nashville Cares.
As a visual artist, Cunza’s credits include exhibits at the Metropolitan Nashville Airport, Metropolitan Nashville Public Library, The Brownlee O. Currey, JR. Gallery at Watkins College of Art, the Madison Arts Center and most recently from August 19 to October 8 of 2011 at the Metro Arts Commission Gallery as part of a collective exhibit of Hispanic artist titled "New Life, New Work" / Nueva Vida, Nuevo Trabajo.
In 2007 Yuri Cunza served as a guest curator for Cheekwood's Music City Picks. Later in 2007 Cunza was invited to serve on the board of the prestigious Tennessee Art League (TAL).
An accomplished writer and public speaker Cunza has appeared before thousands of corporate, institutional, educational and government audiences including, the U.S Attorney's Office, U.S Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Police Academy, FBI, Nashville Fire Department, Nashville Mayor's office and Nashville Metro Public Schools (NMPS), Meeting Planners International, Walmart/SAM's Club, McNeelly Piggot and Fox, Association of Public Accountants, Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, The Urban League, IMF's MLK Annual Celebration, NAACP, University of Memphis, Boy Scouts Club, Tennessee State University (TSU), Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), Vanderbilt University and more.
A Nashville resident for now 16 years, Yuri Cunza became a U.S Citizen on September 22, 2006 at a citizenship ceremony presided by United States federal judge Todd Campbell at The Hermitage, home of U.S President Andrew Jackson. In March 2010, 2011 and 2012, Cunza was named in The Nashville Post's "In Charge" list of business and community leaders who are writing Music City 's success story. Yuri Cunza holds a B.F.A in Film Directing from Watkins College of Art and has attended Executive Education Certificate Programs at Mendoza School of Business at University of Notre Dame through the Non Profit Executive Programs offered by the University of Notre Dame in partnership with the USHCC Foundation. Yuri Cunza is currently attending Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government Executive Education Program on Creating Collaborative Solutions, Innovations in Governance.
"Our (Hispanic) community is often portrayed as a community in need,...It is in need of many things, but it is not in need of your pity. It is in need of respect. It is in need of appreciation — cultural appreciation, political appreciation."