Tunua Thrash-Ntuk has spent her career transforming communities that have been left behind. As Long Beach's 8th District Councilmember, she will lead a neighborhood revival that supports small businesses, improves public safety, prevents families from falling into homelessness, and fixes our streets, sidewalks, and parks.

Tunua works every day to help lift families, like her's, 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. That home provided a secure place to live for Tunua and her extended family, especially during tough times. Before Tunua's first birthday, tragedy struck when her father became a victim of gun violence. Her mother leaned on her family to help raise Tunua while working full-time at low-wage jobs.

Tunua 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 be bussed to a magnet program in a wealthier community. While riding the bus every morning to school, Tunua noticed her neighborhood had different types of stores and parks.

The experience inspired Tunua to advocate for communities and families like hers. She was the first in her family to attend college by earning scholarships at UC Berkeley and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she received her Master's Degree in City Planning.

Tunua is the President and CEO of The Center by Lendistry, where she works with small businesses from underserved communities to access funding, education, and business services. Before this role, she was the Executive Director of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation in Los Angeles (LISC LA), leading regional efforts to build more affordable housing, expand access to health services, and bridge the racial wealth gap. In 2023, Tunua 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. Tunua also Co-Chaired the 2018 City of Long Beach’s “Everyone In” Economic Inclusion Policy Taskforce. The initiative was designed to build economic inclusion recommendations, which are outlined in the City's Blueprint for Economic Development, to create a local economy that includes and benefits every Long Beach resident.

Tunua has served as her daughter's Girls Scout Troop Leader, volunteers at the Alpert Jewish Community Center, President of Jack and Jill of America, Long Beach Chapter, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Long Beach Chapter, serves on the Board of Directors of the Long Beach Transit Authority, and was crowned Mrs. Long Beach in 2019. She and her husband are raising their children in North Long Beach.