Maria R. Palacios is a feminist poet, published author, professional presenter, workshop facilitator, polio survivor and empowerment specialist who utilizes the power of her words to motivate, inspire and educate the community about issues surrounding disability rights, sexuality and disability and activism in general.    ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS: • Winner of the 2013 Pen2Paper Creative Writing Competition sponsored by the Coalition of Texas with Disabilities. Winning piece, Summer of Seventeen, was performed live at the 2013 Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival. • Performed at Sins Invalid's Crip Soiree & Speakeasy show in Oakland, CA and was one of the artists featured in the Sins Invalid documentary which was shown at this event. -October 2013 • Guest performer for the annual Frida Fest celebration in Houston, which brings this artist’s personal relationship with Frida to life through the power of poetry. (2006 – 2011) • Guest spoken word artist at the yearly celebration of Women’s History Month sponsored by Creative Women Unite Houston Texas. (2006 – 2010) •Performer for Sins Invalid, An Unashamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility San Francisco, California. (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011) and to the University of Toronto in March of 2012 • Participated as a spoken word artist for Houston’s Annual Word Around Town PoetryTtour. (2007 – 2012) • Monthly Guest Blogger for MySpace Flex-Writers Café. (March 2010 – November 2010) • Performed the Radical Edges Artistic Disability Show (May 2010) •Performed for the first time as a spoken word artist for Nuestra Palabra -Latino Writers Having Their say. March 1998 • Spoken Word Performer for HIP Houston International Poetry for five consecutive years. (1999-2006) • For three consecutive years Maria R. Palacios was a guest poet at the yearly Latino Book and Family Festival. (2004 – 2007) • Guest Poet for the Art Institute of Houston’s Creative Writing class. (April 2005) • Participated in the Woman Where Are You Now art and spoken word event hosted at Gallery 19 in the summer of (2006) • Disability Educator and Presenter for North Harris County College. (May 2006) • Co-Facilitated Tongue Rhythm Multi-disaplinary Poetry Workshop for Sins Invalid (April 2008) • Performed at Modern Times Book Store in San Francisco, (July 2008) • Invited to perform welcoming nationally known author Ana Castillo. Barnes & Noble event; sponsored by Nuestra Palabra, Latino Writers Having Their Say. (October 2008) • Performer at the NuyoRican Cafe in New York City. For the Ultimate Latina Theater Fest- Latinas Out Loud Epistle (June 2009) • Guest Poet at Nauhaus Art Space - Image and Metaphor Event (May 2009) • Guest Poet at Heights Books - Libros - Bookstore's First Official Poetry Reading. (July 2009) • Participated in the Gulf Coast Poetry Tour in (October 2009) • Guest poet for the monthly poetry series Thought Crime. (May 2010) • Performed for Sins Invalid in Raleigh, North Carolina (July 2010)

CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD SOCIAL CHANGE:

• Founder of the Annual Women with Disabilities Empowerment Fair 2010 to Present
•Keynote Speaker for the Texas Civil Rights Project's International Disability Awareness Day in Odessa, Texas -December 2011
•Invited to share my personal activism with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at the Defend Medicare and Social Security Forum in Houston in August 2011
• Guest speaker and performer for the annual ADA celebration for the Houston Center for Independent Living for the past decade. (2000 – Present)
• Facilitates monthly Women Empowerment workshops for the Houston Center for Independent Living. (March 2010 – Present)
• Served on the Board of Directors for the Coalition For Barrier Free Living (CBFL) Houston (1988-1990)
• Involvement in the disability rights movement assisted in the progress of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (1988-1990)
• Direct action involvement with the Texas Chapter of ADAPT, back then known as American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit. ADAPT is a group of disability rights pioneers whose direct action and often civil disobedience approach has pushed society to pay attention to the needs of the disability community. (1988-1999)
• Maria’s picture along with five other empowered persons with disabilities was displayed on METRO buses as a celebration of the first accessible route in Houston. (1989)
• Participated in a legal protest in Washington D.C. where over two thousand people with disabilities marched demanding the passage of the ADA. (1990)
• Speaker at the Independent Living Conference in Oakland, California. (1990)
• Facilitated ability awareness workshops for Fiesta Educativa, Project Poder in San Antonio Texas. This workshop surrounded issues having to do with advocacy, educational rights of children with disabilities, social views of disabilities. (1990-1993)
• Volunteered at Southeast Area Ministries and assisted with the implementation of a disabilities advocacy program. (1991)
• Created and implemented support groups for Spanish speaking individuals with disabilities in the Houston area. (1992-1993)
• Joined a campaign to vaccinate children against polio and was interviewed by the Pasadena Sun regarding the realities of polio, its historical views and the importance of the vaccine. (1993)
• Served as media spokesperson on disability issues and domestic violence for the Houston Area Women’s Center. (1995-1999)
• Facilitated and co-facilitated a variety of workshops, trainings and public events for the Houston Area Women’s center as their Hotline Case Manager. Some of the events included, volunteer trainings, speaker bureau, cultural diversity workshops, serve as back up for media appearances for the Spanish Speaking stations as well as facilitating and co-facilitating disability related trainings within the agency as well as in the community. (1995-1999)
• Facilitated a Self-Esteem women’s retreat for the Hispanic Women in Leadership. (1995)
• Presented a workshop about domestic violence and disability issues at the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) in Corpus Christi, Texas in (1996) and again in Houston in (1997)
• Facilitated a domestic violence and disability training for the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities. (1997)
• Speaker at the Alliance of Information and Referral Services International Conference. (May 1997)
• Created the Power and Control Wheel for Persons with Disabilities which was adopted by the Texas Council on Family Violence in (October of 1997)
• Facilitated Parent Anonymous Hotline Training for Depelchin Children’s Center. (1997)
• Invited to METRO’s ten-year accessibility celebration. (November 1999)
• Presenter at the Women United Conference, George R. Brown Convention Center -Houston, (November 2000)
• Keynote Speaker for the New Mexico Agency on Aging Annual Conference –(August 2002)
• Guest speaker and spoken word performer for the Latina Institute For Excellence L.I.F.E. Conference. (April 2003)
• Disability Educator at the Harvest Learning, Dow Child Care Network Conference (October 2003)
• Guest Speaker for the March for Women’s Rally --Houston, (April 2004)
• Guest author for Literacy Day Clute Elementary- (2005)
• Guest Inspirational Speaker for the Childcare Network Conference – (July 2005)
• Guest author and inspirational speaker for a Hispanic Heritage event at Spring Branch High School (September 2005)
• Inspirational Presenter for the Project Rio Prison Program. Donated individually signed books to a group of over one hundred imprisoned individuals whose lives were about to be reintegrated into society. (October 2005)
• Facilitated Disability Awareness Training for Collaborates for Children – (June 2007)
• Artist’s video poetry used in High School English class at South Gate, High School in California. (L.A. November 2007)
• Guest inspirational presenter for the Valley View Independent School District in Phar, TX - Spoke to over two-thousand children ranging from elementary to High School grades – (February, 2008)
• Guest speaker for Women's History Month at Lonestar/Norh Harris College (March 2008)
• Collaborated With Baylor College of Medicine - CROWD (Center for Research on Women with Disabilities); Women's Wellness Study. (August 2008)
• Guest Speaker for the Health Care Reform Rally HR676 City Hall Houston, Texas (October 2008)
• Participated in the 2010 Miss Wheelchair Texas Pageant becoming an ambassador for the empowerment of women with disabilities. (April 2010)
• Keynote speaker for the university of Arkansas disability studies program conference. (December 2010)
• Keynote speaker for Shriner's Hospital Youth Transition Program Conference (August 14 2010)
• Created and organized the first Annual Women with Disabilities Empowerment Fair (October 2010)
• Spoken Word Performer for the Peace of Art event at Archway Gallery in honor of domestic violence survivors. -October 2011
• Participated in the 2012 Artcar Parade with Houston Artist Bonnie Blue and her Float Women of the World.
• Member of the Community Advisory Council for the Texas Center for Disability Studies at the University of Texas. -2012 to Present
• Board Member for the Texas Civil Rights Project. -2012 to Present
• Featured in Latina Magazine’s My Latina Life column in the December 2012 issue.
Co-facilitated a training on Medicaid Expansion for the Healthcare for All Texans. -February 2013
• Guest Author on the Author's Nook Radio Show. -February 2013
• Guest Speaker for the University of Houston's fifth Annual Empathy Dinner -April 2013
•Participated in the My Medicaid Matters Rally in Austin, Texas. -March 2013