Maria Contreras, FFCA DiSC Faculty Member

MARIA CONTRERAS

In 2022, the Fathers and Families Coalition of America established formal pathways to join as one of our certified faculty members. We are honored to have Maria Contreras join the DiSC Faculty and augment the essential language acquisition services for Spanish-speaking conference attendees. Maria is an adjunct FFCA faculty member. Ms. Contreras is the Governance Compliance Coordinator and a Bilingual and Biliterate Trainer for the Pomona USD Child Development programs. Her affinity for servicing the community, her inquisitiveness for how systems work, and her ability to build rapport with the Spanish-speaking community fulfill her greater purpose, which is to empower and educate those who would seemingly have their voices not heard.

She provides training in two languages on public meetings and federal compliance, parenting series, family advocacy, and leadership. As a result of her lifelong passion for serving and empowering others through education, Maria has worked for over 27 years in the City of Pomona in both the Educational System and County Mental Health.

Maria is a first-generation Latina, the eldest of a monolingual Spanish-speaking couple that struggled through the educational and public health system. She started preschool, unable to communicate in the English language but soon after that became fluent, and her lifelong career of service to her local community began. Before she left elementary school, she was being requested by both staff and parents to assist with interpreting school business and parent meetings.

Contreras has guided, trained, and coached community members in becoming community leaders and employees of both the educational and mental health system. Under her guidance, parents and staff have received countless awards and recognition for their advocacy at the state and local levels, along with distinction at the federal level for best practices.