Maria grew up in the high desert of Santa Fe, New Mexico and spent her childhood summers traveling with her family to explore and adventure on our public lands. Winters growing up were spent at Santa Fe Ski Basin with classmates. Santa Fe National Forest is still one of her favorite places to play. Although originally from Santa Fe, she relocated to the Rocky Mountains from Washington, D.C. after living there for almost a decade. Maria’s time in D.C. was spent exploring her passion for policy work and growing her skills in the nonprofit sector. After leading development and social enterprise initiatives at Catholic Charities USA she transitioned to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). There she worked hand in hand with fortune 100 multinational corporations as well as individual donors who had deep rooted interests in foreign policy with an emphasis on Asia. Most recently she served as the Chief Advancement Officer for the American Alpine Club where she led the Club’s fundraising department, developed organizational strategy, and expanded and resourced the grants program. Maria holds an M.A. in Political Science, a B.A. in Political Science, and a B.A. in Journalism from Arizona State University. She also has a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Georgetown University. As a member of the POW team Maria is thrilled to align her passion for the outdoors and climate advocacy with her professional work. In her free time, she can be found gardening, camping, hiking, boating, and adventuring with her husband and two rescue dogs, Apollo and Olivia.