Candidate for
Member, Board of Trustees; Santa Monica Community College District

Maria L. Loya Maria brings 20 years of experience in public policy development & advocacy, non-profit management, community organizing & leadership on a range of issues including: equity in public school funding, youth services, immigrant rights, bilingual education, workers and women's rights. From 2001 through 2013, Maria served as Campaign Director with LAANE, where she helped implement poverty reduction policies such as the living wage, and led a negotiating team that resulted in securing $500 million in environmental and job training benefits for residents affected by the expansion of LAX. It remains the largest benefits agreement ever approved, and has helped create safer schools and neighborhoods for hundreds of thousands of people living near LAX. Prior to joining LAANE, Maria was the Director of Community Development at El Buen Samaritano in Austin, Texas where she led an organizing effort in the state legislature to protect bilingual education. Ms. Loya is an effective community advocate for initiatives addressing the student achievement gap. Her years of service and leadership on the Pico Neighborhood Association (PNA) Board, was instrumental in getting the City of Santa Monica to construct the Pico Branch Library. Maria's community organizing and coalition building skills facilitated the implementation of interim zoning protections for Pico and Mid-Wilshire residents, curtailing tenant evictions and ensuring responsible development for a livable Santa Monica. Maria represents the present and future of Santa Monica's engaged and progressive leadership. Ms. Loya currently serves as Vice Chair of the Pico Neighborhood Association, PTA Board member at Edison Language Academy and serves on the steering committee of Santa Monicans' for Renter's Rights and is a member on Residocracy's Advisory Board. Maria is a mother of two wonderful boys Oscar Jr. and Fidel Esteban and lives in Santa Monica with her husband Oscar de la Torre. A community college transfer student, Maria earned her B.A. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995.