Inspired by a commitment to social justice, Maria Eitz has devoted her personal life and her career to improving the lives of children locally and internationally. She founded Respite Care, a service providing free child care, early assessment, and interventions for at-risk children, as well as support for parents, for more than 35 years in San Francisco. She is also the founder and director of Medical Volunteers International and has extensive experience creating human rights programs in Asia and Africa for children and their parents rendered vulnerable because of wars, natural disasters, and famine. Maria was born and educated in Germany but has lived in America since 1963. She has four children adopted from Vietnam and seven grandchildren.