Criminal Justice Coffee Talk with Maria Andrade

Criminal Justice Alum Maria Andrade will discuss her career in education as well as her activism with the Latinx community.

Maria graduated from NJCU with a BA Criminal Justice in 2019. Maria began as a substitute teacher where she saw much of the theories played out in person in the City of Newark. By the end of her undergraduate studies, she was a permanent teacher in a juvenile justice center. Maria was able to apply what she learned in school immediately-which fostered a deeper understanding of her role as an educator and a student.

She is currently Site Director of NJ GEAR UP/College Bound at NJIT. Maria’s passion is also in her advocacy work. She currently serves on the Steering Committee for the Latino Action Network (LAN). She has moderated "Latino Youth Activism" since the 2020 Annual Legislative Assembly. She was the immediate VP of LAN Membership, 2019-2021. With LAN, Maria has worked toward policy reform in criminal and social justice and has testified in Senate hearings for many bills. She has also held conversations that affect legislation with the direct stakeholders.