Ana Maria obtained a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in American Studies and then taught at the Universidad de Navarra’s Faculty of Economics/Business Administration in Pamplona. She then returned to the U.S. to pursue legal education at Columbia Law School, where she was actively involved in the Moot Court program and the Human Rights Law Journal. Her volunteer work with the worker center Make the Road by Walking in Brooklyn and the work done at the Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles also became an academic focus of hers.

 

After graduation, Ana Maria became an American Board of Trial Advocates fellow and worked as a real estate broker focused on family owned businesses. She then pursued a career in real estate development with Moctesuma Esparza’s Maya Cinemas North America, Inc., a company that builds movie theaters and entertainment centers in low-income communities.

 

Since 2011, Ana Maria has developed an expertise in public law while continuing to work as an independent real estate broker and serving on the Bell City Council. She is currently Vice-Mayor of the City of Bell where she has helped restore local government after a devastating corruption scandal. She has promoted transparency and accountability, and ensured the city serves its residents. In addition, she is Of Counsel with a law firm providing guidance to municipal governments like water boards and school districts in the areas of Land Use, Labor & Employment, California Public Records Act and the Brown Act.

 

No other candidate can match her legal, economic development, and leadership experience. No other candidate has her proven record of integrity and fiscal responsibility and no other candidate has a more impressive educational background or stronger local roots.