Mary ann gomez orta

President & CEO

Mary Ann Gomez Orta joined the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) in 2011. Prior to joining CHLI, she was the Executive Director of the National Association of Hispanic Publications. She is a former corporate marketing manager with Coors Brewing Company and McDonald’s Corporation. She managed multi-million advertising and marketing campaigns, collaborated with advertising and public relations firms as well as multi-lingual broadcast, print and outdoor media to executive local, regional and national promotions.  She represented the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) as a National Alliance Development Consultant and managed business development and multi-cultural projects for small and mid-size public relations agencies and also national ones.

Mary Ann currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility; Co-Chair of the New America Alliance Latina Caucus Washington, D.C. Chapter; Co-Chair of the College Relations Committee for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Miami Chapter and member of the Latino Jewish Leadership Council.

Mrs. Orta is a teacher at heart. She has taught public relations, business, marketing and public speaking at American University, University of Phoenix and Heald College. She has also conducted workshops for small business owners on marketing, public speaking tips for women, networking and Hispanic marketing. She is a former board member of the University of the Pacific’s Alumni Association; former President of the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project; and former member of the Astronaut Jose M. Hernandez Reaching for the Stars Foundation.

Mary Ann earned a B.A. in Communications at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California and an M.B.A. at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. She strongly believes that diverse points of view create exponentially better results for all and it is with that passion and commitment she prepares and promotes Hispanic college students to be global leaders at CHLI.

Gomez Orta is extremely proud of her parents. Her father is from Michoacán, Mexico and her mother is from Brownsville, Texas. They raised five children while working in the fields of California’s Central Valley and encouraged and watched as all five earned undergraduate degrees and two went on to obtain master's degrees.

Connect with Mary Ann Gomez Orta

Phone: 202-841-0957 Email: mgomezorta@chli.org