Maria Cardenas (she/her)

Poderosas Fellowship Coordinator

Maria is a lifelong community advocate for the Latinx community. In her youth, she witnessed how her single mother raised two small children while working 2 full time jobs and still tirelessly advocated for herself and other women in the workplace, in the community, and in the voting booth. Maria is inspired everyday by her mother’s desire to create opportunities for others that she didn’t have herself. Maria has advocated for paid leave and fair workplace opportunities and has experience in program development, project management, research, and community engagement. She is a seasoned Human Resources professional with over 7 years of experience in operations and benefits support and is a proud alumna of Valencia College.