Maria Iñiguez has worked at Wenatchee Valley College since June of 2019. She began as the executive assistant to the president, and her title and role shifted to chief of staff and secretary to the board of trustees in July 2023.  

Maria is also a Wenatchee School Board member, the first elected Latina to serve in this position. She also worked at the Wenatchee School District in various other roles for 12 years. In addition to her work in education, she serves the community in many ways: as a parent volunteer and team sponsor for Wenatchee Youth Baseball, team sponsor for the Greater Wenatchee Soccer Club, volunteer scholarship reader for the Community Foundation of North Central Washington, mentor for the Wenatchee High School College Mentor Program, and volunteer for the Community Advancement of Family Education and the Washington State Latino Civic Alliance. 

Maria earned a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Studies and a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Art and Sciences with an emphasis on education from the University of Washington Tacoma. She studied abroad in Cuernavaca, Mexico and Cienfuegos, Cuba as part of her master’s thesis, “Leaving Hispanic Students Behind: The Effect of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning on Hispanic Students.”