Elena Romero

Assistant Professor | Advertising and Marketing Communications

[email protected]

(212) 217-4472

Business and Liberal Arts Center, Room B418

Education

BA, MS, New York University

2017–18 State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching

Biography

Elena Romero is an award-winning TV correspondent and producer for LATiNAS on CUNY TV. A journalist for more than 25 years, Romero currently tells the stories of nuestra mujeres on a wide range of topics including health and wellness, education, entertainment, fashion, food, and Hollywood.

Romero began her professional journalism career in 1993 at WNYC-AM and WBAI-FM in New York. She transitioned into the trade newspaper business in 1996 becoming a fashion journalist for the now defunct DNR and later, sister publication WWD. During a career that now encompasses newspapers, magazines, television, radio and book publishing, she has developed an expertise in hip hop music, style, and Latinx culture. Her work has appeared in Honey, Savoy, Vibe, Latina, Urban Latino, Sportswear International, USA Today, and the New York Post. Romero's hip hop fashion expertise is highlighted in the CNN documentary "Fresh Dressed" and the current Netflix documentary "The Remix: Hip Hop x Fashion." She has appeared as a fashion expert on CNBC’s "The Brave Ones," featuring the story of Daymond John of FUBU and CNBC’s "Suddenly Obsessed," discussing skate brand Vans and its relationship with hip hop. She was a guest on "In Vogue: The 1990s," a podcast about the decade that changed us.

Romero began teaching in 2002 and has pursued academia full-time since 2019. A firm believer in public education, she has served as co-vice president and secretary on the Community Education Council (CEC) District 15 and was appointed to Brooklyn Borough President Community Education Council District 15 in education under the leadership of then-borough president Eric L. Adams (New York’s 110th Mayor). As a CEC member, she was a parent representative for schools in neighborhoods spanning from Boerum Hill to Sunset Park.

Romero has received numerous awards including 2021, 2022, and 2023 Telly Awards; the 2020 Comite Noviembre Josefina Aguado Scholarship for Single Parents; and the 2017-2018 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching. She was New York Emmy-nominated in 2023 for her work as a segment producer for CUNY TV. Romero is co-editor of Fresh Fly Fabulous: 50 Years of Hip Hop Style (Rizzoli, 2023) and the author of Free Stylin: How Hip Hop Changed the Fashion Industry (Praeger, 2012). She holds a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication and an MS in Publishing, both from New York University. Romero is currently working on her PhD in Urban Education at The CUNY Graduate Center.

Research Interests

Romero is currently pursuing a PhD in Urban Education at the CUNY Graduate Center. Among her research interests are:

diversity, inclusion, and equity in public schools
Latino parent engagement, school choice, and middle school admissions in New York City
youth fashion, style, and culture
journalism, mass communications
Latinx culture
hip hop

Selected Publications

"The 25 Best Dressed rappers of All Time," OkayPlayer.com. April 7, 2023.

"Fresh Fly Fabulous: 50 Years of Hip Hop Style," February 7, 2023. Rizzoli Electa.

"It’s Real Life’: The Beauty of ‘In the Heights’ as Told by Anthony Ramos, Scott Sanders and More in Exclusive Set Visit," Remezcla.com. April 19. 2021.

"'Orange is the New Black' Cast on the Final Season’s Impactful Immigration Storyline," Remezcla.com. July 26, 2019.

"Lin-Manuel Miranda on Watching the Original Mary Poppins: 'I would Bust into Tears,'" Remezcla.com. November 20, 2018.

"Lin-Manuel Miranda on How His Characters in Mary Poppins Returns and In the heights are the Same," Remezcla.com. November 12, 2018.

"Latino Hip Hop pioneers give 'The Get Down' Mixed Reviews," Remezcla.com. September 6, 2016.

"How Cuban-American Costume Designer Jeriana San Juan Created the Looks in 'The Get Down'," Remezcla.com. August 16, 2016.

Freestylin': How Hip Hop Changed the Fashion Industry. April 6, 2012. Praeger.

Conferences and Presentations

Keynote Speaker: 50 Years of Hip Hop Style. U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style Symposium. The Museum at FIT (MFIT). February 24, 2024.

Fashion Culture: Misa Hylton in Conversation with Elena Romero. The Museum at FIT (MFIT). November 17, 2022.

Pink in African American Music and Culture, with Dr. Monica Miller, Barnard College, as part of the Pink Symposium presented by The Museum at FIT (MFIT). October 19, 2018.

In conversation with Dapper Dan and Jeriana San Juan on Hip Hop and Fashion. Black Fashion Designers Symposium presented by The Museum at FIT (MFIT). February 6, 2017.

BRAG Presents Fresh Dressed Panel. Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). April 11, 2016.