Samantha Astudillo (she/her) is a project manager of climate action research at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. Her work primarily focuses on the Center’s evaluation of California’s Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program investments, which support community-led development and infrastructure projects aimed at achieving major environmental, health, and economic benefits in California’s most disadvantaged communities.

Prior to joining the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, Samantha spent nearly a decade working in education research and analysis. Her work focused on examining the implementation and impact of educational interventions designed to advance equity and improve academic outcomes for historically underrepresented students.

Samantha holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford University. She is also an alumnus of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program, through which she served as an English-language instructor in Toluca, México.