Maria Aquino (she/her) is a Senior Program Officer at the James Irvine Foundation, a private funder, leading work on the place-based Priority Communities initiative since joining the foundation in June 2022. In this role, Maria partners with local groups in the Central Valley that build power towards more inclusive economies in their regions. Previously, she served as a Senior Program Officer and Program Officer at First 5 LA, an independent public child advocacy organization and funder, with a goal to support the safe and healthy development of young children in Los Angeles County. There she oversaw a grantmaking portfolio of $159 million for programs to improve child and family outcomes. Maria also led a place-based effort, focused on cross-sector collaboration to ensure parent and resident voice shaped resources and initiatives promoting early childhood wellbeing.

Prior to that, Maria served as an Outreach Liaison and Eligibility Worker at Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Social Services. There she cultivated partnerships with community and faith-based organizations to co-locate social services in places families and individuals trust, leading to improving access and enrollment in safety net programs. She served as a lead in the Placita Homeless Project, a government and nonprofit partnership to secure housing, income and social services for the unhoused community surrounding historic Olvera Street.

Maria is the proud daughter of immigrants, was born in South LA and raised in various cities in Mexico and Southern California. She is most passionate about racial justice, food justice and LGBTQIA2S+ issues, and has volunteered for numerous intersectional efforts. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the LA Food Policy Council, which works to ensure food is healthy, affordable, fair and sustainable for all. Maria holds a BA in Women’s Studies and Globalization from the University of California, Los Angeles and a master’s in public administration from Cal State Northridge. Maria lives in Koreatown, and enjoys exploring LA neighborhoods with her poodle mix, Daisy.