Mariana Parks is retired from a career in public policy, having worked as Deputy State Director and speechwriter for US Senator Slade Gorton, and as president of the Slade Gorton International Policy Center. She also served as Senior Advisor for US Representative Dave Reichert, and worked for the Washington Policy Center and Microsoft Government Affairs. Parks ran her own company providing consultancy to a broad range of corporate, political and non-profit organizations. She now serves as president of CTNNB1 Syndrome Awareness Worldwide, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing awareness of the ultra-rare genetic disorder, which affects her grandson, connecting other families and the medical community dealing with the Syndrome, and providing resources and research into finding effective treatments and eventually a cure.