About Nuño
Jorge Nuño didn't come to District 9 with a platform. He came home.
A lifelong resident of South Central Los Angeles, Jorge is the son of immigrant parents from Jalisco, Mexico. He attended local schools here in the neighborhood, growing up on the same streets, around the same families, and inside the same community he is fighting for today. His mother ran a home-based childcare business. His father built a gardening operation serving South Central LA and Inglewood. At a young age, Jorge was already out on those routes with him, learning what it means to work hard, show up for people, and take pride in keeping spaces clean and cared for.
That lesson never left him. As the son of a gardener, the belief that every neighborhood deserves to be clean, maintained, and respected is not a campaign position for Jorge. It is in his DNA.
If we want better, we have to build it ourselves.
Born in South Central L.A. Built here.
Running for us.
Not a politician. Homegrown.
Jorge is not a career politician and has never pretended to be. He is a builder, a social entrepreneur, and a neighbor who has spent decades doing the work without waiting for permission or a title. While others have made speeches, Jorge has shown up. Residents across CD9 have seen him on social media and in person, sleeves rolled up, clearing illegal dumping sites in neighborhoods throughout the district. Not as a photo op. Not the day before an election. Just a man who cannot drive past a neglected block without doing something about it.
That is the difference between a politician and someone who is truly homegrown. Jorge has been taking action in this community his entire life. The campaign is just the next step.
Building something real.
Jorge turned a passion for art and design into a career in the entertainment industry, going on to study Graphic Design at Brooks College and complete UCLA's film and television program. He launched NTS Communications at 26. Over 24 years, he has grown it into a union-operated creative agency and print shop serving LAUSD, public institutions, and entertainment brands, creating high-quality local jobs and mentoring young talent along the way. Both companies are headquartered just blocks from where he was raised.
His work has earned national recognition. The California Small Business of the Year Award for the 59th Assembly District. Coverage by Telemundo, VICE News, and Netflix. But his focus has never left South Central.
The Big House
In 2006, Jorge transformed a historic Craftsman home in the heart of South LA into one of the neighborhood's first small business incubators. For nearly 20 years, The Big House has been a launchpad for entrepreneurs, a venue for healing circles and civic roundtables, and a home for youth programs, food distributions, and community organizing. It served as South LA's campaign headquarters for Bernie Sanders during the presidential race. It has been officially nominated as a Cultural Treasure through the Promise Zone Arts initiative, recognizing its role in preserving the creative and cultural legacy of this community.
It is not a legacy project. It is still open and still working.
Investing in the next generation.
As former Board Chair of Conaxion, a nonprofit supporting inclusive entrepreneurship across LA County, Jorge helped bring over $1.3 million in grant funding to support aspiring young entrepreneurs and small businesses in South LA. He has also served on the boards of Root Down LA and Roots of South LA, driving work around food justice, mental health, and youth empowerment. These are not honorary titles. They represent years of showing up at the table and delivering real resources to the community.
Don't Move, Improve in action
Jorge's commitment to neighborhood stability is not theoretical. In one defining moment, he organized volunteers to fully restore a 100-year-old home for an elderly couple struggling to keep up with their aging home. That is what Don't Move, Improve looks like in practice. Not a policy document. A crew showing up on a Saturday morning because a family needed help holding on to what they had spent a lifetime building.
Why Jorge’s running again
In 2017, Jorge ran for this seat and earned the endorsement of the Los Angeles Times.
"Nuño has undeniably been a force for positive change. His entrepreneurial drive and connections to the grassroots make him the better choice."
Los Angeles Times, 2017
He is running again because the stakes are higher. Housing costs have pushed families out of neighborhoods they built. Billions in investment are flowing into Los Angeles through major developments and the 2028 Olympics, and South LA is at risk of being left behind once more. Over a decade of absent leadership have left streets neglected, encampments unaddressed, and residents feeling abandoned by City Hall.
And for 19 years, he has shown up every holiday season as South LA's own Santa Claus, personally handing out hundreds of toys and bikes to children in the neighborhood. Because leadership is not only what you do at City Hall. It is what you do when nobody is watching.
Jorge is not running on theory. He has been building for 24 years, creating jobs, mentoring youth, restoring homes, and investing in South LA long before it was a campaign promise. Now he is bringing that same work ethic to City Hall.
South LA does not need saving. It needs investment and leadership that knows how to build.