12. Maria Zavala
Outreach Manager for NorthWest Initiative and Activist
Maria Zavala is the Outreach Manager for NorthWest Initiative, an organization which advocates for disenfranchised residents on the north side of Lansing, the capital city of Michigan. She directs an outreach team that works in high needs neighborhoods, linking residents to quality resources, encouraging self-empowerment, and promoting community change.
Maria is chair of the Asset Independence Coalition, a community collaborative, which assists low income residents in filing income taxes. In 2006 the Coalition brought in over $3million in Earned Income Tax Credits, substantially increasing the buying and investing power of low income residents. Ms. Zavala also has coordinated the team responsible for setting the goal in Ingham County for reducing disparities in infant deaths as well as overall infant mortality.
Building on over four years successful experience facilitating cultural activities in Michigan prisons, Ms. Zavala founded ARRO (Advocacy, Resources, Re-Entry, Outreach), a group assisting ex-offenders to successfully reenter the community. She is an alumnus of Michigan State University with a major in Communications and a minor in Chicano-Latino Studies. Each year at the Dia De La Mujer Conference at MSU, an award named for Maria Zavala is given to a Chicana Latina woman who has gone beyond her daily responsibilities to create grassroots change in her community. Ms. Zavala is the proud mother of two beautiful daughters.
