Maria is a climate justice lawyer, policy activist, and writer. Her work is dedicated to movement-aligned efforts to spark cultural change and redesign systems such that we all have the capacity to meet our basic needs and thrive together. Founder of EnerGaia Consulting and policy anchor for the Ubuntu Climate Initiative, her work focuses on energy, water, and land justice and their intersections with democratic governance models and solidarity economies. Co-founder of the People’s Utility Commons, she also co-wrote a popular and political education curriculum on utility justice. She lives on unceded Chochenyo Ohlone land in Oakland, California, where she loves to hike, play music, and be in community.