Helen Hernandez has worn a lot of hats in a storied career that’s taken her from the trenches of labor union activism to becoming the CEO of the North American Travel Journalist Association (NATJA) - one of the leading organizations that brings destination managers and travel journalists into the same tent. And in between it all, she has been a presence in the Los Angeles Arts and Entertainment communities too.

In this episode of World Footprints—the first of two with Helen—she shares her remarkable journey. We explore Helen’s journey from her childhood in California as a Mexican-American Latina who overcame much adversity to taking an active role in the labor union movement. Her career would go in an entirely different direction and land her a job working for television producer Norman Lear.