Long Beach Community Leader Tunua Thrash-Ntuk Announces Her Campaign to Represent the 8th City Council District
Small Business Advocate and Affordable Housing Leader Thrash-Ntuk is committed to neighborhood engagement to create jobs and safer communities.
Long Beach, CA — Small Business Advocate and Long Beach Community Leader Tunua Thrash-Ntuk announced her campaign to represent Long Beach’s 8th City Council District. Thrash-Ntuk will bring decades of policy and community development experience to the City Council with a fierce passion for ensuring all families have opportunities and all our neighborhoods are well-represented.
“Growing up, I learned that everyone doesn’t have the same access to opportunities. That’s why I have dedicated my career to helping lift families like mine so they can have the stability needed to thrive. As Long Beach’s 8th District Councilmember, I will passionately lead neighborhood engagement that supports small businesses, improves public safety, prevents families from falling into homelessness, and improves our streets, sidewalks, and parks. Let’s work together so that all of North Long Beach thrives,” stated Thrash-Ntuk.
Thrash-Ntuk earned key early endorsements from Long Beach Vice Mayor Cindy Allen and Councilmembers Dr. Joni Ricks-Oddie, and Dr. Suely Saro.
“Tunua Thrash-Ntuk has the experience we need to create strong public safety partnerships in North Long Beach. She’ll focus on investing in small businesses, after-school programs, and affordable housing to prevent crime and provide neighborhood stability,” stated Vice Mayor Allen.
“Tunua Thrash-Ntuk is the type of collaborative leader North Long Beach needs. She is someone who shares the same love for this community. I am excited to work with her to unite the 8th and 9th districts and attract more investment in educational and economic opportunities,” stated Councilmember Ricks-Oddie.
“I support Tunua Thrash-Ntuk because she knows how to uplift families by helping them build generational wealth and create thriving neighborhoods. Her invaluable experiences in advocating for Long Beach’s diverse communities are crucial to creating opportunities for shared prosperity for all,” stated Councilmember Saro.
RSVP HERE: Thrash-Ntuk for City Council 2024
Thrash-Ntuk grew up in a home owned by her grandparents—a janitor and trash truck driver—who earned enough income through their union membership to buy a two-bedroom house. She was the first in her family to attend college, earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from UC Berkeley and her Master’s in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A longtime Long Beach resident, Thrash-Ntuk led local efforts to build housing and expand economic opportunities for underrepresented people. She is the President and CEO of The Center by Lendistry, a nonprofit organization that provides aid to support small businesses in underserved communities. At the height of the COVID-19 crisis, she oversaw the distribution of more than $100 million in grants and loans to microentrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits throughout Los Angeles County. During this time, she helped the State of California distribute more than $2.5B in rent relief to landlords and tenants.
Mayor Rex Richardson tapped Thrash-Ntuk to help co-lead his transition team and create the framework for his Opportunity Beach 100-Day Plan. She co-chaired the City of Long Beach’s “Everyone In” Economic Inclusion Policy Task Force and organized the city’s first Economic Inclusion Summit. She also helped establish and anchor the economic development strategy of the Long Beach Center for Economic Inclusion.
Thrash-Ntuk is a homeowner in the Riverdale Community of Uptown Long Beach. She is a Long Beach Women’s Commission Advisory Committee member, Jack and Jill of America — Long Beach Chapter President, and an Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Long Beach Chapter member. She has volunteered as her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop Leader and at the Alpert Jewish Community Center. In 2019, she was crowned Mrs. Long Beach.
Long Beach City Council District 8 is situated in Uptown Long Beach and includes the neighborhoods of Addams, Bixby Knolls, Carmelitos, Coolidge Triangle, Dairy, Lindbergh, Longwood, Paramount, and Sutter. The seat is open with Councilmember Al Austin currently serving his final term. The election will take place on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
About Tunua Thrash-Ntuk
Tunua Thrash-Ntuk has spent her career transforming communities that have been left behind. As Long Beach’s 8th District Councilmember, she will passionately lead neighborhood engagement that supports small businesses, prevents families from falling into homelessness, and improves our streets, sidewalks, and parks.
Thrash-Ntuk works every day to help lift families like hers out of poverty so they can have the stability needed to thrive. Her grandparents, a janitor and trash truck driver, earned enough income through their union membership to buy a two-bedroom house in South Los Angeles. The home provided a secure place to live for Thrash-Ntuk, her mother, a high school educator and her extended family, especially during tough times. Before Thrash-Ntuk ‘s first birthday, tragedy struck when her father became a victim of gun violence. Her mother leaned on her family to help raise Thrash-Ntuk while working full-time at low-wage jobs.
Thrash-Ntuk learned at an early age that everyone doesn’t have the same access to opportunities. She showed promise at her local public school and was selected to attend a magnet program in a wealthier community. While riding the bus every morning to school, Thrash-Ntuk noticed her neighborhood had different types of stores and parks.
The experience inspired Thrash-Ntuk to advocate for communities and families like hers. She earned several scholarships to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from UC Berkeley and her Master’s in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A recognized regional housing and economic development leader, Thrash-Ntuk led efforts to revitalize underserved communities by delivering millions in financial support for small businesses, building thousands of affordable housing units, and creating more generational wealth in communities of color.
As the President and CEO of The Center by Lendistry, Thrash-Ntuk works with small businesses from underserved communities to access funding, education, and consulting services. Before this role, she was the Executive Director of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation in Los Angeles (LISC LA), leading regional efforts to create more affordable housing, expand access to health services, and bridge the racial wealth gap. Thrash-Ntuk led the partnership with the City and County of Los Angeles for the LA COVID-19 Regional Recovery Fund, equitably distributing more than $100 million to microenterprises, small businesses, and nonprofits impacted by the pandemic. She also designed and implemented a California state program to provide full-service assistance to landlords and families, helping them access $2.5 billion in rent relief.
Thrash-Ntuk served as Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson’s 100-Day Plan Transition Team Co-Chair, where she brought together local experts to set the best policies to tackle the most significant challenges facing Long Beach.
As the co-chair of Long Beach’s “Everyone In” Economic Inclusion Policy Task Force, Thrash-Ntuk brought her ideas forward to design a local economy that includes and benefits every resident. She organized the 2018 Long Beach Economic Inclusion Summit with more than 250 local community partners, business leaders, policymakers, and philanthropic partners for a day-long conversation that explored innovative policy solutions to address Long Beach’s economic inequities.
Thrash-Ntuk advises organizations and companies on how to serve the community better and advance racial equity, including Housing California, Southern California Edison’s Consumer Advisory Panel, Long Beach Women’s Commission Advisory Committee, Greenlining Institute, Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing Associations, Long Beach Center for Economic Inclusion, Union Bank’s Community Advisory Board. She was recognized with the California Black Women’s Collective “Trail Blazer Hall of Fame Award” and the Wells Fargo Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Award by the Los Angeles Business Journal. In 2023, Tunua received the President’s Award from the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce.
Thrash-Ntuk served as her daughter’s Girls Scout Troop Leader, volunteered at the Alpert Jewish Community Center, is President of Jack and Jill of America, Long Beach Chapter, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Long Beach Chapter and was crowned Mrs. Long Beach in 2019. She and her husband, Uduak-Joe, are raising their children in the Riverdale Community of Uptown Long Beach.
For more information, to make a donation or for volunteer opportunities visit https://www.Tunua2024.org