María graduated as an architect from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana and as an internationalist from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. She earned her PhD from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Social and Political Science. Here she studied cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy, particularly in the official representation of Mexican culture abroad. As a NACDI member, María is interested in referring to cultural diplomacy from a Mexican perspective and how it has developed with respect to North American regional interests and dynamics.

She has worked both in national and international representations of the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, including as part of the team that represented Mexico in the Security Council of the United Nations in the 2009-2010 biennium, and in the Foreign Relations Commission of the Senate of the Republic.