Maria Peña, SOC/BA ’90, is a born storyteller. As a child in Nicaragua, she was unusually curious and inventive, constantly asking how things worked and playing with imaginary friends. After moving to Washington with her family at age 10 to escape the violence of Nicaragua’s civil war, Peña was inspired to pursue a career as a Spanish-language journalist, chronicling the immigrant experience. Now, as a bilingual public affairs specialist at the Library of Congress—which adds more than 10,000 items to its collections every weekday—Peña is amplifying stories in yet another way, “ensuring that the richness of American history and culture is accessible and resonates with every segment of society.”
1968: Born prematurely in a hospital in Granada, where doctors put her in an incubator for about a week. “My mother said I was turning purple and was in dire danger. They baptized me at the hospital; my mother was very Catholic.”
1971: Cared for by an aunt after Peña’s mother, Ernestina, went to DC to work and send money to support her seven kids.
1977: Witnessed the killing of a boy by government forces amid Nicaragua’s civil war between the Somoza regime and the Sandinistas. “I opened a window and saw a kid, about 12 or 13, running away, with the guards yelling for him to stop. They shot him at close range. He dropped to the ground, dead. I dropped to the ground, curled up, and cried.”
1978: Migrated to DC after her aunt determined that Peña wasn’t safe in Nicaragua. Her siblings arrived in two groups, and the family lived in a badly maintained building alongside other poor immigrants. “Mom had a grill she’d turn on for heat, and one night the fumes poisoned us. Me and my little brother ended up in the hospital.”
Learned English at Oyster Bilingual Elementary School in Northwest.
1983: Enrolled in School Without Walls, a DC public magnet high school. Graduated three years later in the top 3 percent of her class.
1985: Interned at NPR—a position funded by the DC government. Shadowed reporters as they conducted interviews, took dictation over the phone, and read a poem in Spanish on the air. “I decided journalism was what I wanted to do. I loved the energy and the work.”
1986: Entered AU on a full scholarship for high-achieving minority students after a high school counselor said she’d be a good fit for the school.
1989: Studied abroad in Brussels. “We went to the Berlin Wall, visited a Nazi camp. It was an amazing experience.”
1990: Thrilled her mom by graduating from AU with a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism. “She didn’t have formal education, but she always made it a priority for me to go to school and get good grades.”
1992: Landed a job with Univision’s DC bureau.
1993: Laid off from the Univision affiliate, along with about 100 other employees.
Joined a new Spanish-language project for NBC News in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The idea was to sell programming to Latin American news channels in the US. The concept was good, but the execution was not. A lot of reports were dubbed into Spanish, and there was no cultural sensitivity in the beginning.”
Left the job to join United Press International, working with its Spanish-language radio project and later UPI’s Spanish-language wire service.
1998: Hired by EFE, the Spanish wire service. Covered the White House, Congress, and immigration issues.
2008: Became a guest panelist on Al Punto, a Univision public affairs program.
2012: Began appearing on Voice of America, analyzing news trends that affect the Hispanic community.
2013: Joined Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion as the DC correspondent, writing about the Department of Homeland Security, the White House, and Congress. “I covered lots of protests demanding immigration reform and opposing family separations. Those were very intense years.”
2018: Lost the La Opinion job when the newspaper closed its DC operation.
2019: Began working for Telemundo’s digital team, covering the Hispanic community and immigration.
2020: Joined the Library of Congress. “I like that I can continue to use my journalism skills, writing blogs and articles for our newsletter and magazine.”
2023: Earned a master’s in communications and public relations from Johns Hopkins University.
2024: Helped promote the Library of Congress’s annual National Book Festival, which featured more than 90 authors, including 10 Hispanic writers. “There was so much great energy in the air. Helping provide visibility to Hispanic storytellers was rewarding.”