Maria vividly recalls her story as a daughter of hardworking immigrants whose parents had no more than a sixth-grade education. Despite the odds stacked against them, Maria\u2019s family managed to establish themselves in Denver where she\u2019d graduate from North High School in 2001. Her drive to become more involved and learn more about the education system was ignited when she became a mother and started working as an educator. Gaining an insider\u2019s perspective on how things operate was enlightening for Maria and motivated her to become more active.<\/p>\n
Maria currently serves as the director of family and community engagement at Wyatt Academy, a kindergarten through fifth-grade charter school. She established the Empowerment Center which provides a pantry, boutique and a washer and dryer \u2013 all free of cost \u2013 to assist families. It\u2019s important to Maria that she is there for the community to support them through the processes they need help with and make a difference for future generations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2542,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"team":[28],"class_list":["post-2587","team","type-team","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","team-advocacy-ambassadors"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n