Maria specializes in managing communications strategies for high-profile real estate development projects and statewide outreach campaigns on Latino issues.  As a certified mediator, Maria brings extensive experience and unique insight into communicating with stakeholders and community organizations. She was director of community relations and government affairs for a real estate development firm in West Los Angeles and has completed fellowships as a Coro Fellow at Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), LA County Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), Univision, Chuck Fuentes for Assembly campaign, J.S. Rosenfield & Co., and Pacoima Beautiful Youth Environmentalists. Maria is on the Board of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, on the Board of Accion, a non-profit that provides college counseling services to inner-city schools, and is a member of the Junior League of Los Angeles. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity from Stanford University with a minor in Urban Studies. She also earned her Juris Doctorate at Loyola Law School, where she became a certified mediator at the Loyola Law School Center for Conflict Resolution.