Bio sketch: Maria Guadiana

Maria Guadiana’s consciousness of Chicano activism was fostered at a young age. Born in Detroit, MI, Maria’s father, Jose Guadiana, was an 
active member of El Circulo Mutualista Mexicano de Detroit, an organization seeking to promote and celebrate Mexican culture.

Maria cites her defining professional moment of Chicano consciousness and social justice activism as occurring in 1968, when she participated in a picket line, which supported the grape boycotts and the United Farm Workers [UFW]. From here, Maria took up 
numerous roles with the UFW. Initially starting out as a recruiter for the group, Maria ended up quitting her job at an insurance firm for a full-time position with UFW. She held this job as secretary one and a half years.



Around the same time, Maria organized Detroit’s chapter of the Brown Berets. This inspired her to travel to Los Angeles in 1969 for the 
National Brown Beret Conference, as well as attend the Crusade for
 Justice Conference in Denver in 1970.


After a short stay in Fresno, Maria returned to Detroit where she was 
hired as secretary for LASED, whilst also participating in the first 
cohort of ‘Latino en Marcha’ at Monteith College in 1971 — a precursor 
to the Chicano-Boricua Studies program at Wayne State University. After living in Denver for a short time, Maria once again returned to Detroit and was 
subsequently hired as community organizer for Wayne County Community 
College.

To further her studies, Maria enrolled in the
 Masters of Social Work Program at Wayne State. During this time she also worked for one and a half years as a local reporter for
the publication ‘La Red’, a magazine that examined the way people
 of Mexican descent dealt with mental health issues.



Upon completing her studies, Maria took up multiple roles as a social 
worker. Initially the Director of LASED’s Senior Citizen’s Program, 
Maria held multiple roles in Illinois as a social worker for the elderly, 
Director of Adult Daycare at a nursing home in Battle Creek, MI, as
 well as a medical social worker in South West Detroit.



More recently, Maria has worked as a school social worker. In 1999, 
only a few months after completing her social work degree at 
the University of Michigan, she was hired by the Calhoun Intermediate School District in the Battle Creek area where she worked for almost
 14 years. At the same time, Maria became active in her union as the Chief Negotiator for recent employment contracts.



Currently, Maria works for the Cesar Chavez Academy High School in 
Detroit, where she continues her engagement with union
 activism.