María Arce is a media leader and mentor who has managed teams of up to 40 people, with extensive experience in engagement journalism and community outreach in the aftermath of natural disasters, such as Hurricane María in Puerto Rico. Before joining Documented as the Education Program Manager, she worked as an Engagement Journalism Trainer for America Amplified, advising 13 public media stations on community-centered journalism. She worked as an editorial coach for Global Press in Latin America, training up to 40 reporters worldwide. María also served as the Multiplatform Director of El Vocero in Puerto Rico, Deputy Digital Director of GFR Media, and Digital News Director at Univision in the US. She was selected as one of the RJI Innovation Fellows 2023-2024 at the University of Missouri, where she developed a toolkit on how newsrooms can unleash the power of ham radio operations during emergencies. She was also selected as a Knight Wallace Fellow 2022-2023 at the University of Michigan to develop guides on how to cover natural disasters for small newsrooms. She was selected as an Ochberg Fellow at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University in New York. She has won several international journalism prizes, including the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation Award. As of 2025, she’s the only woman in the world who has twice won the King of Spain International Journalism Award. She was born in Argentina and lives in the US. She received an EB1 "Einstein" Visa.