Bio

María del Mar Piedrabuena is an award-winning multimedia journalist, editor and publisher. She is the founder and publisher of Tu Prensa Local, a local Spanish news site on the East End of Long Island. She is also a reporter for RiverheadLOCAL and a contributor of Voices of New York. She has worked at leading news outlets including RiverheadLOCAL en Español, News12, Long Island Wins and Fortune Magazine. She has covered a wide array of topics through video, photography, online and print: from women's issues and immigration, to education, politics and national and international business stories. She was honored by the New York Press Association with a first place award for her work describing Latino sentiment on today's political climate. She has also received an Ippies Award for best social issues story for a story about DACA recipients. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor also recognized Maria's work with a letter of appreciation after she wrote a column about the importance of Latina women representation in the legal professions. Maria has over 10 years experience working as a journalist. She is passionate about local journalism and social justice, something that is reflected in her work. A native of Spain, she graduated with honors from Stony Brook University with bachelor's degrees in Journalism (broadcast and online concentrations) and Women and Gender studies. Additionally, she has an associate's degree in Liberal Arts from Suffolk County Community College, and has completed a fellowship in Health Reporting and a Herstory practicum for teaching memoir writing for peace and writing. Maria is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Catalan.