Latina Recruiter 

402-399-2491 

mgaston@csm.edu  

  

Maria Luisa Gaston calls herself a lifelong educator and community activist.  She has been at College of Saint Mary since September 2005, and coordinated the Latina Summer Academy this year, doubling previous years' attendance.  

  

Prior to coming to CSM she was Program Director of the Latina Resource Center in South Omaha for five years, where she developed a new self-esteem program, organized arts-and-crafts classes taught by other Center clients, and coordinated services ranging from English to driving classes, domestic violence prevention to parenting and legal help. Her mission was to reach Latina women, especially recent immigrants, in their own language and culture.  

  

Together with four other Latinas, Gaston started an arts-and-crafts co-op that sells handmade crafts at local community events and conferences. Maria Luisa believes "it gives the women empowerment as well as a source of income." 

  

Originally from Havana, Cuba, Maria Luisa came to the United States when she was 15 years old and finished her high school education in Philadelphia. She received her bachelor's degree in chemistry and philosophy from Cabrini College, and went on to receive her master's in religious studies from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. She was a nun for 14 years, teaching science, religion and art in Baltimore and Philadelphia. As a layperson, she continued working for the Church in Hispanic Pastoral Ministry in Milwaukee, Miami, Florida and Washington, D.C.   

  

In the 90s she directed multicultural programs for the U.S. Catholic Bishops, the Paulist Evangelization Association and the National Conference for Interracial Justice, projects which took her all over the country "promoting cross-cultural understanding, and advocating for greater solidarity with and justice for the neediest among us," said Maria Luisa.  

  

Now at CSM she is an Admissions Counselor and Coordinator for Hispanic Recruitment.  She reaches out to Latina girls in high school and community colleges, from Omaha, surrounding Nebraska towns and all over the country.   

  

Hobbies include reading, camping, arts and crafts, and most of all socializing with friends and family.