Maria Colon

Maria Colon has over 25 years of experience in property management in Buffalo, New York. As a minority Puerto Rican woman, she overcame significant challenges including homelessness with her five children due to substandard housing conditions. Colon manages properties by ensuring compliance with housing codes and fair housing laws, providing tenants with resources for rent assistance and tenant rights, signing leases, conducting recertifications, and offering counseling support, particularly for those dealing with mental health issues or chronic homelessness. She is certified as a Certified Occupancy Specialist, in LIHTAC for Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and through the MWEE Minority Women's Entrepreneurship Program. Colon attended UB Buffalo and self-educated through extensive reading and temp services work across administrative, legal, banking, and construction fields. She is a member of the Worldwide Women's Association and aspires to open her own company to help those in need find housing and resources. Her values emphasize love, responsibility, guiding others, and incorporating her life with the lives of others, while her advice to young women entering the field stresses loving the work, having thick skin, empathizing, compartmentalizing, and staying organized.