Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings (born January 31, 1971) is an American political scientist, policy wonk, writer, and public speaker based in Washington D.C. She is president and ( Chief Executive Officer CEO )of Global Policy. ^[3] Maya was married to late Congressman Elijah Cummings. ^[8]

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings was born on January 31, 1971, in Texas. The family moved around often due to her father’s Air Force career. Her parents, Thomas Charles Rockeymoore and Hazel Brown Rockeymoore, were childhood sweethearts. Hazel passed away in September of 2015. According to her obituary, Hazel was the youngest of nine siblings.^[34]

Rockeymoore Cummings has two siblings, Mark and Meredith.

She also has seven nieces and nephews.^[34]

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings attended Prairie View A&M and graduated with a degree in political science. ^[4] She went on to study the same subject in graduate school at Purdue University focusing on Public Policy, International Relations, American Politics, and African-American Studies. Her dissertation was about the Congressional Black Caucus in the 105th Congress' response to the HIV/AIDS concerns of the time. She earned her Ph.D. in 2000. ^[5]

Throughout her career, Maya has worked in policy in a government and non-governmental capacity.

From 1995 to 1997, she worked as the Administrative Assistant to the Director at the Marion County, Georgia Health Department. She then moved to Washington D.C. and was a Legislative Fellow for Congressman Melvin Watt, part of the Professional Staff for the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, and Chief of Staff to Congressman Charles Rangel.^[5] In 2001, Maya left Congress to become Senior Resident Scholar for Health and Income Security for the National Urban League. Two years later, she joined the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation as Vice President of Research and Programs. ^[5] In addition. Rockeymoore has previously served as the Director of Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. ^[4]

Dr. Rockeymoore created the Campaign for High School Equity, a coalition of civil rights organizations dedicated to advancing sound high school reform policies at the federal level.

She has also led the development of several key education policy documents; including the Schott Foundation for Public Education’s 2020 Vision Roadmap: A Pre-K Through Postsecondary Blueprint for Educational Success and the Campaign for High School Equity’s A Plan for Success: Communities of Color Define Policy Priorities for High School Reform.

^[4]

Maya formally announced on November 12th, 2019 that she would be running for her late husband, Elijah Cummings', seat in Congress. ^[35]

Using her experience in policy and organization, Maya founded Global Policy Solutions in 2005, a consulting firm for corporate, philanthropic, non-profit, academic, and governmental organizations.

The firm helps them with client development, public relations, and strategy development.

One of her most memorable moments she recalls “was landing a multimillion-dollar contract to design, implement, and evaluate a national health program focused on supporting elected and appointed officials in their efforts to advance policies related to healthy eating, active living, and childhood obesity prevention.”

^[6] In 2012, Maya started the 501c3 non-profit described as a think and action tank, the Center for Global Policy Solutions where she is dedicated to improving policy work in health, wealth, education for people in vulnerable populations.

^[5]

Dr. Rockeymoore has presented and written extensively about health disparities, childhood obesity, health care reform, community-based approaches to health, HIV/AIDS, and Medicaid and Medicare policy. She is the co-author of the Action Strategies for Healthy Communities Toolkit and she has published articles in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and the National Association of State Boards of Education’s State Education Standard among other publications. A member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, Dr. Rockeymoore contributed to the development of its seminal study panel report, “Strengthening Medicare’s Role in Reducing Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.” A proponent of the social determinants of health, Dr. Rockeymoore makes the critical connections between health, economic security, education and civic participation. ^[4]

The recipient of many honors, Maya was named an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow in 2004 and received Running Start’s 2007 Young Women to Watch Award. Dr. Rockeymoore has been invited to speak before numerous organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Women Donors Network, Grantmakers in Aging, Drexel University, Columbia University, Congressional Democratic Caucus, Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the National Association of Black Journalists among many other groups. She has been quoted in publications such as the New York Times and the Washington Post and has been interviewed on NPR, Sirius XM radio, BET, CNN, and Al Jazeera English among many other media outlets. ^[4]

On October 17 2019, Maya's husband Elijah Cummings passed away after complications from long term health problems at the age of 68. Maya released a statement to the Maryland Democratic constituency about his passing: