Maya was born and raised in New York City, before moving to New Jersey as a teenager. She has always had the spirit of service, spending her free time in high school tutoring elementary school students and volunteering at the local hospital. She left the Garden State temporarily to attend Carnegie Mellon University, where she was a leader in several student-run organizations aimed toward the advancement of minority students. As a pre-med student, she became especially interested in health disparities and used her role as president of the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students to address these issues.
She returned to New Jersey to attend Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. In the urban setting of Newark, NJ, she was able to cultivate her passions of serving underserved communities and uplifting underrepresented minorities. She served as president of SNMA and Out@NJMS, an organization dedicated to promoting LGBT issues. She also co-founded a non-profit organization with the purpose of bridging students and local community for volunteering opportunities. Maya earned membership in the Gold Humanism Honors Society for her involvement on campus and in the community and hopes to find new opportunities to make a difference in Miami and at Jackson!