Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Spotlight on Sam Gomez and The Sagrado Galleria
At Valley Leadership, we believe leadership is action. This Hispanic Heritage Month, we are honored to spotlight Sam Gomez, Executive Director of The Sagrado Galleria, for the ways he is weaving heritage, creativity, and community into lasting impact.
Founded in 2016, The Sagrado was born out of South Phoenix’s need for an arts and cultural anchor. At the time, the city had made little investment in cultural spaces in the community. In response, Gomez and his team created what is still today the only community arts organization and gallery in South Phoenix. Since its founding, The Sagrado has engaged more than 5,000 community members, nurturing cultural identity and serving as a bridge across the Valley.
For Gomez, art is more than self-expression, it’s a tool for social consciousness and equity. In our conversation, he spoke about projects that intentionally blend creativity with advocacy, elevating conversations around environmental justice, cultural identity, and resilience. This philosophy is rooted in The Sagrado’s guiding framework: Pasado, Presente, Futuro. By centering ancestral wisdom and generational memory, The Sagrado connects the past to the present while cultivating a vision for the future.
Leading a nonprofit in a historically underserved community has its challenges, and Gomez spoke candidly about the barriers of funding and sustainability. Yet, he also emphasized the resilience that comes from strong partnerships, earned trust, and a commitment to create space for voices that too often go unheard. For emerging artists, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds, he underscored the importance of finding or building spaces that affirm identity and offer room for authentic creative expression.
As the conversation turned to Hispanic Heritage Month, Gomez shared that for him it is not simply a time of celebration, but of affirmation. Heritage, he explained, is living and breathing, it shapes how we imagine our communities, both now and into the future. His message to artists and leaders alike was clear: honor your heritage, and use creativity to drive meaningful change.
When asked which of our Principles of Doing most resonates with him, Gomez pointed to Building Trust and Driven to Do, values that echo through every part of The Sagrado’s work.
We are grateful for The Sagrado’s partnership with our Explore program and for Sam’s leadership in creating a cultural home for South Phoenix. His work reminds us that leadership is not about titles, but about taking action to create lasting impact.
