About

When she’s not working, she can be found hiking and exploring tasty coffee and brunch locations around San Diego County.

María Luisa Reyes is originally from Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. A proud first-generation college graduate, and underresourced Latina immigrant, María Luisa holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience & physiology from the prestigious University of California, San Diego. During her time there, she contributed to the renowned book Mexican Migration and the U.S. Economic Crisis: A Transitional Perspective, focusing the study on parallel relationships between traditional and scientific medicine in collaboration with the Mexican Migration Field Research Program.

As a lifelong learner, she has multiple certifications in the fields of development, process improvement, project management, translation, and emotional intelligence.

With over 12 years of translation experience, María Luisa’s passion for linguistics originated from her personal challenges in developing her identity as a bilingual speaker while exploring her heritage and identifying opportunities to connect communities from diverse backgrounds.

As the owner of a small translation company, she finds no better gratification than creating bridges between English and Spanish speakers worldwide. Her entrepreneurial achievement is dedicated to her mother as an homage to her unconditional love, countless sacrifices, and the ever-present pain of leaving her family behind in pursuit of her family’s American dream. 

Ms. Reyes also serves as the inaugural Special Projects Coordinator at UC San Diego’s Teaching and Learning Commons and Director of Science & Health Symposiums for Inquire First (501c3 nonprofit journalism organization).

As a Gates Millennium Scholar, María Luisa continues her mission by serving as a spokesperson, panelist, and instructor in national and international leadership, academic, health, and science forums.