María-Elena is a writer, yoga instructor, bird lover, and bonafide hippie from Takoma Park, Maryland, where she first fell in love with birds and the healing powers of nature. María Elena’s essays have appeared in The Acentos Review, the award-winning SankShuned Photography Art Book, the anthology Peínate: Hair Battles Between Latina Mothers and Daughters, the literary magazine midnight & indigo, the journal Kweli, and in the anthology Anfractuous published by Yellow Arrow Publishing. An avid bird lover, María-Elena is active on the board of directors for DC Bird Alliance and Rodney’s Raptors, Inc. She regularly leads bird walks around the DC metropolitan area.