Maritza Gamboa Ferraro was born in Laredo, Texas and raised in Lubbock, Texas. The daughter of an immigrant family, she learned English when she started attending school and went on to be the Student Council President during her time at her jr. high and high school.

Maritza attended Texas Tech University. While at TTU, she was selected as the United States representative to the 1997 World Youth Day in Paris, France where she met Pope John Paul II. She was also a McNair Scholar in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program due to being a first-generation college student. After graduating in 2000 from TTU with a double major in History and Spanish, she became a Youth Counselor working with troubled youth in Lubbock and Hockley County before beginning her law career.

Maritza received her Juris Doctor degree from St. Mary’s University Law School in San Antonio, Texas. During her time in law school, she studied Mexican Civil Law at the Universidad de Guanajuato, was an officer with the Hispanic Law Student Association and worked as a student attorney in the immigration clinic.

Maritza obtained extensive trial experience in the years practicing law in Killeen that focused extensively on assisting active and retired military soldiers. In 2011 Maritza returned to Lubbock to open her own law firm, Gamboa Law, where she assists clients in criminal, family, CPS and immigration legal needs.

Maritza is a long-standing member of the College of the State Bar of Texas; an honorary society that recognizes Texas Lawyers who attend at least double the Continuing Legal Education (CLE) hours needed each year, the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer Association and the Texas Family Lawyers. She is a graduate of the Trial Lawyers College in Wyoming, National Criminal Defense College Trial Practice Institute in Macon Georgia and Texas Criminal Trial College in Huntsville, Texas.

She is also very actively involved in the Lubbock community with various children’s programs. She has volunteered with the South Plains Food Bank Kids Café Program where she has coached and prepared kids to finish a one-mile fun run at the Lubbock Arts Festival. In the past, she has volunteered with Toys for Tots, Race for the Cure and Hispanic Association of Women. She is a current sponsor of Little League Baseball and a PTA member.

Maritza has been married to her husband for ten years and has two children. A consummate role model, she is heavily involved in her children’s education and extracurricular activities.

Christine Ruffin is a person with a huge heart and tireless work ethic. Born in Abilene, Texas, Christine moved to Lubbock at age four with her family, where she has enriched the community ever since. Christine began her service to this community as a student at Frenship High School, where she served as Student Council Vice President and was a track and field athlete that competed at the state level.

After she graduated from Frenship High School, she went on to attend Texas Tech University as a first-generation college student. While at TTU, she started her corporate career with Cingular/AT&T Mobility. After graduating in 2011 from TTU with a major in Sociology, she continued on her 20-year corporate career with AT&T as an account executive.

Committed to social justice and empowerment, Christine is actively involved in volunteering in the Lubbock community. Through volunteer activities, she shows a practical way to support and help the community she so deeply loves. In the past, she has volunteered with the South Plains Food Bank Kids Café Program as a coach to prepare kids for a one mile fun run with the Lubbock Arts Festival. As a Director of Manos Unidas, she has used her corporate networking experience and grassroots connections to raise money for the non-profit. Christine has created a campaign designed to give disadvantaged youth the opportunity to participate in athletic activities. She has also secured grants and donations from local businesses and corporations to give out entry fee scholarships for children of families that could not otherwise afford to have their children participate. Christine has shared her great love of Lubbock in the volunteer and community outreach work.

Stephen Ferraro is the founder and owner of SJF Investigations and SJF Rentals, and a member of the board of directors for Manos Unidas, a nonprofit organization in Northwest Texas.

Stephen Ferraro began his career in 2002 in the US Army as an Infantry officer. He served as a Rifle Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, Reconnaissance Platoon Leader and Operations Officer in 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He deployed twice with the battalion, for the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003 - 2004 and again to Kirkuk, Iraq in 2005 - 2006. In 2007, he was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He took command of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas and deployed with the unit to Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2008 – 2009. Upon his return from Afghanistan in 2009 he relinquished command and was reassigned to G3, 8th Army, in Seoul, Korea. While in Korea he served as an Operations Officer and Battle Staff Officer. Upon returning to the United States in 2010, Stephen Ferraro was assigned to Task Force 1, JRTC at Fort Polk Louisiana. There, he served as an Observer Controller before being assigned as the Senior Analysist at the Tactical Analysis Feedback Facility, where he oversaw the Operations Center for a Battalion Level OCT Team.

When he separated from the Army as a Major in 2012, Stephen moved to Lubbock, Texas where he founded SJF Investigations, a private security and investigation company providing services throughout Texas and SJF Rentals, a property management company in Northwest Texas.

Stephen is from Lakeville, Pennsylvania and is a 2002 graduate of the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. His military education includes Infantry Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training, Infantry Officers Basic Course, Infantry Maneuver Captains Career Course, Airborne Course, Air Assault Course, Pathfinder Course, Long Range Reconnaissance and Surveillance Leaders Course, and the Ranger Course.

Stephen is married to Maritza Gamboa Ferraro of Lubbock, Texas. They have one son, Stephen, and one daughter, Mara.