With more than 14 years of leadership experience in healthcare operations, María brings a wealth of expertise in both private practice and community healthcare to her role at Esperanza. Her healthcare operations journey began in New York City, where she managed a private physical therapy practice, building its operations department, leading its expansion to multiple locations and earning a respected reputation among the city’s top orthopedic surgeons.
Before joining Esperanza Health Centers, María served as the Director of Health Center Operations at Howard Brown Health—a Federally Qualified Health Center and the largest LGBTQ healthcare provider in the Midwest. There, she focused on operationalizing and leading vaccination clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic, standardizing and optimizing clinical operations, improving patient access and experience, and advocating for quality queer healthcare across the city.
María was drawn to Esperanza by a deep desire to give back to the community she came from, the community her family first called home in this country. She saw Esperanza as the perfect opportunity to apply her operational expertise to advance its mission of delivering health and hope to Chicago’s underserved, particularly la comunidad Latina. Maria takes pride in leading a team that reflects her identity and the community’s diversity, and is committed to being a leader who inspires, supports, and uplifts staff and patients alike.
In addition to her professional achievements, María is dedicated to empowering future women leaders, currently serving on the Advisory Board for the Women in Leadership grogram at Rockford University. Passionate about “reaching back and pulling up” by mentoring and coaching, Maria is dedicated to fostering leadership development among early-career professionals, cultivating the next generation of healthcare leaders. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language & Literature from The University of Chicago and a Master’s degree in English Education from Teachers College at Columbia University. When not driving the mission of Esperanza, Maria enjoys baking creative vegan ice cream cakes, exploring and filling her home with contemporary urban art, and traveling the globe to immerse herself in different cultures through their art, food and people. A passionate reader, she often dives into multiple literary fiction books at once, while cuddled up on the couch with her beloved Cairn Terrier, Toro.