María Velásquez

María Guadalupe Velázquez (she/ella) is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and was born and raised in the northwest side of Chicago. Her personal mission to connect, serve, and elevate underserved communities is at the core of her work.

She currently serves as the Director of Outreach for the Office of U.S. Representative Jesús “Chuy” García where she proudly serves Illinois’ 4th district. María previously served as the program manager of immigrant justice partnerships at The Resurrection Project (TRP) where she supported its statewide program Access to Justice, which seeks to mitigate the devastating consequences of incarceration and deportation.

Prior to TRP, Maria led national youth initiatives for the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE). While with HACE, she led the expansion of their high school program El Futuro, planned several youth-focused STEM conferences nationwide, and expanded the University Leadership Academy & Scholarship program.

Maria was also an Organizing Fellow with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). Here, she led naturalization efforts engaging local and national organizations through campaigns such as the New Americans Democracy Project, which mobilized the 2016 immigrant vote in Illinois. Maria holds a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from the University of Iowa and is an active member of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc.

She also serves as President of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Alumni Association’s Chicago Chapter. She is also an alumna of the New Leaders Council Institute and Loyola University’s Baumhart Center Impact Leaders. In her free time, she enjoys discovering new restaurants to feature on her Instagram foodie page @BuenProvechoChi.