Maria Ximena Sussman received her B.S. in Political Science and Criminal Justice in 2004 from East Carolina University.  In 2007, she pursued an MBA with emphasis in Accounting at Winthrop University.  After working as a litigation certified paralegal for two prominent law firms in Charlotte, she decided to fulfill one of her childhood dreams and joined the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department as a police officer.  After spending some years on patrol, she decided to fulfill another childhood dream, which was to one day become a lawyer.   Maria began her studies at Charlotte School of Law and after graduating law school in 2014, she was admitted to the North Carolina Bar and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Her affiliations include the North Carolina State Bar, North Carolina State Bar Association,American Bar Association,  Mecklenburg County Bar, and Hispanic National Bar Association.  In addition, she is a a North Carolina Notary Public.