Samantha Hidalgo

Samantha Hidalgo is the Chief Program Officer at the Buffalo Center for Health Equity (BCHE), where she has served since September 2022. A proud Buffalo native, Samantha is passionate about making her hometown a better place by supporting programs and initiatives that advance health equity and improve the lives of community members. In her role, she oversees programming and grants, ensuring projects meet their deliverables on time while remaining aligned with the organization’s mission.

One of Samantha’s proudest professional accomplishments is helping plan the annual Igniting Hope Conference. Seeing a room filled with friends, partners, and advocates inspires her and reinforces the importance of collaboration in creating meaningful community change. She especially enjoys meeting new people and learning about innovative programs that make a difference.

Samantha believes in knowing your worth and setting boundaries, reflected in her favorite career advice: “No is a complete sentence” and “Know your worth and add tax.” While her workday often consists of emails and meetings, she values opportunities to connect directly with the community she serves.

Outside of work, Samantha enjoys spending time with friends and family, reading, crafting, and discovering new restaurants. She has a special fondness for Niagara Cafe when feeling nostalgic and Swan Street Diner for breakfast. An avid reader, she enjoys works by authors Natalie Haynes, R.F. Kuang, and Kate Quinn. She also collects stickers from places she visits to decorate her work notebooks. A lifelong Buffalo Bills fan, Samantha hopes to one day see the northern lights. If she could have any superpower, it would be the ability to teleport wherever she needed to be—a fitting ability for someone dedicated to serving her community.