Ana Maria Quintana is a proud member of the Southeast Community. Her parents and only brother were born in a small town in Durango, Mexico and settled in Cudahy when Ana Maria was nine years-old. She attended the area’s local schools: Elizabeth St. Elementary, Nimitz Jr. and Bell High School, where she was Student Body President.
Ana Maria obtained a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in American Studies and a master’s degree at the Universidad de Navarra’s Faculty of Economics/Business Administration in Pamplona, Spain, where she also taught Statistics and the practice class for Theory of Probability. She then returned to the U.S. to pursue her legal education at Columbia Law School, where she was actively involved in the Moot Court program and the Human Rights Law Journal. Her volunteer work with the worker center Make the Road by Walking in Brooklyn and the work done at the Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles also became an academic focus of hers.
After graduation, Ana Maria became an American Board of Trial Advocates fellow and worked as a real estate broker focused on family owned businesses. She then pursued a career in real estate development with Moctesuma Esparza’s Maya Cinemas North America, Inc., a company that builds movie theaters and entertainment centers in low-income communities.
Since 2011, Ana Maria has developed an expertise in public law while continuing to work as an independent real estate broker and serving on the Bell City Council. She is currently Vice-Mayor of the City of Bell where she has helped restore local government after a devastating corruption scandal and led the city through the pandemic by securing emergency relief for families, renters and local businesses. She has promoted transparency and accountability, and ensured the city serves its residents. She is currently Of Counsel with a boutique law firm providing guidance to municipal governments like water boards and school districts in the areas of Land Use, Labor & Employment, California Public Records Act and the Brown Act.
Ana Maria is now running for re-election to serve another term on the Bell City Council. Her legal, economic development, leadership experience, and local roots will be of great benefit to the City of Bell.
