Maru De La Paz

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Personal Information

Maru De La Paz of Harlingen is a community leader and civic advocate in Harlingen, Texas. Maru currently serves as a member and Past President of the Harlingen Area Educational Foundation at Harlingen CISD. She is a Sustainer of the Junior League of Harlingen and served in multiple leadership roles for a ten-year period, contributing significantly to community outreach and fundraising efforts benefiting local families and students. Her board service includes the Texas Southmost College Foundation, the Advisory Board for TRIUMPH Public High Schools, and United Way of Northern Cameron County. Maru is an appointed Commissioner for the Cameron County Housing Authority, where she advocates for equitable housing opportunities and responsible governance. Additionally, she serves as a Board Advisor for Blue Sunday, a nonprofit supporting foster children, where she has helped lead annual initiatives providing resources to foster youth throughout the Rio Grande Valley for over ten years. Her dedication to service has been recognized through numerous honors, including Inspirational Woman of the Year (2020) at the International Women’s Day Conference in Brownsville, the Chairperson’s Choice Award from the Greater Harlingen Chamber of Commerce (2021) for her Outstanding Community leadership, and selected as the 2023 celebrity at the Annual Roast for The Literacy Center of Harlingen, supporting adult literacy, ESL, GED, and workforce readiness programs. In 2025, she was honored by the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas as a Women Making History Award recipient in the Rio Grande Valley. In 2025 Maru was awarded “Women of Distinction” by the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Chamber of commerce.