Hi! I’m Rita
I am a mom, advocate and change maker. As a mom of 2nd and 4th grade students at two MCPS elementary schools, I know the hustle of the day-to-day and the carousel of viruses from September to June. I understand the need to know my children are in safe, stable school environments when I kiss them goodbye in the morning. I know that school is more than a place where children learn to read and write. I want to make sure our children have all of the skills they need to thrive as adults.
As a current PTA President, I know the value of bringing parents and caregivers to the table to have a voice in their children’s educational journey. I know the challenges of providing a robust menu of programs for a variety of populations while operating within a fixed budget. I know that priorities change at a moments notice and that flexibility in implementation and approach is important.
As a small business/nonprofit advisor, I know that strong, sound policies and well-funded budgets keep teachers and staff safe and in a position to provide our children with the education they deserve. As a lawyer and former Juvenile Public Defender, I know the importance of clear, high expectations and healthy boundaries for youth. As a professional, I know that thorough accountability, leadership, oversight, and transparency are key to smooth, successful operations.
I am a mother of two young children and also a lifelong advocate for underserved communities. From the start of my career working as a tutor for elementary students learning English as their second language to data collection as a Research Analyst at a social services nonprofit to representing thousands of clients unable to afford an attorney and founding a patient advocacy nonprofit, my entire career has been dedicated to advocacy and public service. As a former Public Defender, I handled very large caseloads and, analyzing various factors, quickly assessed my clients’ needs and potential outcomes to secure the best possible solution. As a patient advocate, I provided oral and written testimony in support of and against legislation, policies and regulatory efforts by Maryland legislators and regulatory bodies with input and collaboration from relevant stakeholders.
In my career, I developed:
a trilingual workforce development needs assessment for a Montgomery County nonprofit;
a youth-driven, participatory budgeting project; and
a U.S.-based, international, Black-owned cannabis and hemp company with workforce development and education programs for recently incarcerated individuals including a menu of revenue-producing product lines for a Grammy-award nominated musician.
I also:
secured the Withholding of Removal for a client under the Convention Against Torture thereby preventing the client’s home country from potentially executing them;
co-chaired the negotiation of a non-death plea for a physically disabled client potentially facing the death penalty; and
prevented the government from sending a developmentally delayed non-citizen teenager to immigration authorities.
Currently, through my small business, I employ an efficient, solution-oriented approach to empower clients to handle their own administrative matters to curb costs and stay competitive in tough markets. Current efforts include hosting workshops to teach and guide business owners through the U.S. Dept. of Treasury's FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting and further development of a community-centered, data collection nonprofit.
I began my education in Head Start preschool before attending Catholic school due to my parents' safety concerns in my local public school. Growing up in a home which placed a high value on education, I focused on my studies while playing a variety of sports including many years of competitive fast-pitch softball. After graduating from high school and beginning the process to enlist in the military because I thought it was the only way to fund my college education, I learned about financial aid and instead attended and graduated from American River Community College with an Associate of Arts degree in Social Science before transferring to a four-year university. At University of California, Davis, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, I participated in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, also referred to as the McNair Scholars Program, and the Summer Research Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco. After working in the Research Department of a social services nonprofit, I attended and graduated from the American University, Washington College of Law in Washington D.C. with a law degree. My global perspective is further informed by international legal studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa and post-graduate policy studies at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.
I’m Rita. Nice to meet you.