Maria Teresa Kumar Wiki Biography, Husband, Net Worth, Kids

Posted by Carisa Kissane on Monday, May 20, 2024

• Maria Teresa Kumar is an Emmy award-nominated Hispanic businesswoman, TV personality and political rights activist.
• She was born in Bogota, Columbia and raised in California, and she graduated from the University of California, Davis and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
• She is the founding president and CEO of Voto Latino, an Hispanic advocacy group aimed at increasing the involvement of Hispanic individuals in US elections and other political processes.
• She is married to businessman Raj Kumar and they have two children.
• Her current net worth is estimated to be over $1.5 million.

 

Who is Maria Teresa Kumar?

Born Maria Teresa Petersen in 1974, in Bogota, Columbia, now with American nationality, Maria is an almost 45 year-old Emmy award-nominated Hispanic businesswoman, TV personality and political rights activist. She is probably most familiar across the planet thanks to her very frequent exposure on television, and across numerous other media outlets, mostly owing to her constant engagement in political rights issues, and thought-sharing on multiple important subjects. She’so had a number of other successes over the course of her often lucrative political career since 1997.

Early life and education: Growing up in California

Maria was initially raised in her place of birth, apparently an only child, by her American father Edward Petersen, and her Colombian mother Mercedes Vegvary (nee Castro), both of thus-far unknown names and professions.

However, her family moved to California USA, when she was four years old.  Maria’s parents separated when she was 12 years of age, and both remarried, providing her with two step-siblings later on. As for her childhood interests, Maria chose not to share too much on the topic, though some information is still known by the general public.  She is thought to always have had a passion for helping others, most specifically in areas of social interactions. As for her education, she attended an unspecified high school in her birthplace, from where she matriculated in 1992. Afterwards, Maria enrolled into the University of California, Davis, from where she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in international affairs and economics in 1996.

Later she attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, from where she graduated with a master of public policy degree in business and technology in 2001.

Career: Fighting for society

Maria started her career in 1997, as a senior legislative aide in the US House of Representatives, to Democratic congressman Vic Fazio. She left this position in 1999, and focused on her studies until graduation. One year later, in 2002, Maria went on to join The Advisory Board Company, where she served as an associate director through 2003, at which point she took the job of a regional director for the LawMedia company, where she stayed until late 2004. Maria at that point chose to make a bigger name for herself, and thrust her vision forward by becoming the founding president and CEO of Voto Latino – an Hispanic advocacy group.

The goal Maria initially had in mind is evident in the name, as it means ‘Latin Vote’. She wanted to drastically increase the involvement of Hispanic individuals in US elections and other political processes. Though initially only focused on inspiring Hispanic voters, the group later combined efforts with the US Census Bureau to bolster participation in the 2010 census. Voto Latino got a voice on MTV’s Tr3s channel, and many bloggers helped the cause by telling their audience, while there was also a Twitter hashtag.

Voto Latino’s massive success

Maria over time managed to increase the number of Hispanic voters by at least 500,000, and as of late 2019, her group operates for other causes as well, such as aiding the Latino US population with getting the greatest possible benefits from the Affordable Care Act.

In 2010 the group released an app in which Hispanic citizens were able to register for the census, and it continues to aid its users in 2019 to have a better life in the country, by supplying them with invaluable information about several important acts and policies. The group’s new goal was announced in June 2018, Maria stating that it is to have at least another 500,000 Hispanic citizens register for voting by 2020, aided by the $7 million budget that was donated for this purpose. Maria’s main source of income in 2019 is in great part owed to her group’s highly enviable accomplishments.

Love life: Who is her husband? Do they have kids?

When it comes to the romantic involvements of one of the top 50 most beautiful women from 2016 (as reported by thehill.com), Maria is personally not someone who often mentions details about her private life, but a few things are quite familiar to the public nonetheless.

There’s no information about her early relationships, but she is thought to have dated businessman and entrepreneur Raj Kumar for a few years prior to marrying him at some point around 2010, in a private ceremony in Cartagena, Colombia, away from the media’s attention, with only close friends and family attending. Raj hails from India, but he is a Georgetown University School of Foreign Service graduate, and has also been to Harvard’s Kennedy School. He is the co-founder and president of Devex, a media platform with global development as its main focus. They have two children together – a daughter named Lucia Mercedes Kumar, who was born in 2012, and Eduardo Kumar, who came into the world around 2015. There has been no controversy surrounding their union. The family of four resides together in Washington DC.

What inspired Maria to come this far?

Growing up as an immigrant child, since her family had that status for their first five years in the US, Maria witnessed the hardships that an average Hispanic household endures on a daily basis. What had the most profound effect on her, though, was her father’s untreated illness. Teresa’s dad unfortunately passed way due to lack of treatment, while he was still considered an immigrant. His ex-wife wasn’t able to do much at the time, since she suffered the same kind of branding.

The influence of Voto Latino

Besides being publicly supported by quite a few Hispanic celebrities, such as rapper Pitbull and actress Jessica Alba, Maria’s group draws its ever-increasing popularity from the significant amount of recognition it has enjoyed over the years.

In the second half of 2019, the group has 15 rewards to show for its effort, some of which include LATISM’s Best Not-For-Profit Organization using Technology and Social Media to reach Latino(a)s award for their social media success, and the Promax Gold Award for their highly effective PSAs broadcast on MTV’s Tr3s channel.

What is Maria Teresa Kumar’s net worth?

Have you taken a second to consider what the current wealth of Maria might be, especially around the second half of 2019? With a look at some of the most authoritative sources, it can be determined that the amount in question is well over $1.5 million, which she’s earned thanks to sharing her valuable political expertise, and fighting for the rights of Hispanic US citizens over the course of her career.

Maria is at the moment still going strong in the business, and thus the said net worth will definitely grow.

Body measurements

So, what kind of physical specifications do you think this Hispanic spokesperson has? Maria’s height, weight, vital statistics, dress, shoe and bra size are nowhere to be found across the reputable sources, though her body shape is mostly described as slim. She has dark brown hair and dark hazel eyes, with a mildly dim and tanned complexion. There’s also the fact that she at some point had plastic surgery, and augmented her lips, which generated some backlash.

Gracias @LATTITUDEevent!

Austin bound for @votolatino’s #VLPowerSummit – can’t wait. Joining 500+ Latinxers training to flex?? . Can’t wait to see the team & @SteveMadden @rosariodawson @WValderrama @IngridDuran @Stansbury @JulianCastro @amyklobuchar …let’s kite it up! ? pic.twitter.com/fC7pnDhVjk

— MARIA TERESA KUMAR #BlackLivesMatter (@MariaTeresa1) September 28, 2019

Social media presence

Do you believe that this famous political rights activist is highly active on the internet? Being the starter of an incredibly popular advocacy group, Maria would do well to have a significant presence on social media. By constantly sharing information about her professional and personal life, and thus maintaining a close relationship with the dedicated audience, Teresa would exponentially widen her public reach and aid her causes. Kumar looks to be quite aware of how this works, and possesses ubiquity on each of the three most popular social media networks. Her Facebook has more than 6,000 fans, her Twitter nearly 45,000, and her Instagram just over 3,000 followers.

, Wikipedia

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