Received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from Southwest Florida College. She received her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Argosy University. She also earned multiple professional educational certificates including Strategies for Struggling Readers, Sheltered Instruction Observation, and Reading Strategies.

For over twenty years, Marie made major differences in her elementary students’ lives during her great professional academic journey with Collier County Public School. Her decision to leave the public school system was only to explore her teaching career with Hodges University as an English as a Second Language (ESL) professor.

As a former program director, she was responsible for the implementation, management, supervision, and evaluation of the programs by the standards that were set out by Dr. Arthur Boyer Foundation, Inc. As a member of the senior management team, the Program Director participated in strategic planning and budgeting initiatives and other organizational leadership operations. She worked within the guidelines, the policies, and the mission of the organization.