Maria Cardona

Maria Teresa Cardona (born November 12, 1966) is an American political strategist and commentator who currently works at the Dewey Square Group and is the founder of Latinovations. Cardona is also a Democratic strategist and CNN/CNN en Español political commentator. Starting in 2020 Maria spearheads ¡MARIA! with Maria Cardona talk show. She dissects advocacy and public policy affecting Latinos in the U.S. through the El Rey Network. Early life Maria Teresa Cardona was born in Bogotá, Colombia. She moved to the United States with her family at the age of two and lived in Ohio but shortly after settled in Leesburg, Florida. She is a graduate of Duke University. Career Early start Cardona spent five years at the United States Department of Commerce, first as Deputy Press Secretary to Secretary Ronald H. Brown and in charge of the press offices of all the 14 agencies. Following the airplane crash into a mountainside in Croatia that killed Secretary Brown, Cardona was left to handle the live press briefing alone. She then went on to be the Press Secretary to Secretaries William Daley and Mickey Kantor. While there, she acted as Lead Communications Strategist for the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993. In 1997, she was awarded the Department of Commerce's Silver Medal Award for Meritorious Federal Service.