Maria Odom is the Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), where she is responsible for AFC’s organizational strategy and vision, operations, and effectiveness. Maria comes to AFC with over two decades of experience championing the rights of displaced, migrant, and refugee children and families.

Prior to joining AFC, Maria served as Senior Vice President, Global Legal, at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), where she oversaw extensive legal programming and multidisciplinary social services for over 7,000 unaccompanied migrant children across the United States, Mexico, and Europe. She transformed legal programs into a comprehensive, trauma-informed model delivering psychosocial services and therapeutic programming to children and youth throughout their migration journey.

Previously, Maria served as the Citizenship & Immigration Services Ombudsman at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a White House appointment in President Obama’s administration. She bridged critical gaps between immigrant communities and federal agencies, authored influential Congressional reports, and chaired the DHS Blue Campaign to Combat Human Trafficking.

Earlier in her career, Maria served as Executive Director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), leading the nation’s largest network of charitable legal immigration programs. She also spent a decade in private practice as a removal defense practitioner and worked in federal service at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Maria is a graduate of Florida State University College of Criminology and Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law.