Maria graduated summa cum laude from Pace University in New York City. Here, she studied the humanitarian impact of climate change issues through the lens of economics and international relations. She received her BA in Economics and Political Science in 2021 and her MS in Applied Economics in December 2022. As an undergrad, she worked as an economic research assistant as well as an intern at Control Arms Coalition.
After graduation, she worked as an Adjunct Professor, teaching Introduction to Macro and Microeconomics. She was also an Enrollment Research Fellow at Pace, where she was tasked with analyzing data regarding thousands of students daily. She is also a winner of the Provost's 2021-2022 Undergraduate Research Award for her undergraduate thesis, as well as having presented her research at two Eastern Economic Association conferences.
Maria is originally from Portland, Oregon and has a background in data analytics, research, and academia.