Born and raised in New York City, "Dr. Liz" or "Dr. Chief", as she is affectionately called by some, accepted Jesus Christ at an early age, displaying a genuine love for God. When in college she ventured onto paths to "experiment" but soon realized that God's call over her life provided no where to hide. She returned to the Lord and never looked back. She received her credentials to the ministry in 1996 through the Assemblies of God. Her home church in NYC was Primitive Christian Church since the age of 10 where she served in various leadership capacities including but not limited to: Children's Nursery, Youth Sunday School Teacher, Single's Leader, Women's Leader, Youth Minister alongside her husband, Newsletter Editor and various administration roles. With a divine call and passion for the advancement of women, Dr. Rios has been privileged to serve as a speaker and workshop presenter for several women's conferences. 

Dr. Rios has also served in many executive level positions in nonprofit organizations in NYC. Since 2005, she has been informing and inspiring women nationally as a regular columnist and Contributing Editor for PRISM magazine , published by Evangelicals for Social Action. In April 2008, she became a Consulting Editor for Outreach Magazine, a national magazine for church leaders, pastors and planters. Dr. Liz has also written academically with a chapter in Latino Religions and Civic Activismcalled "The Women are Warriors" highlighting the many achievements of Latina Pentecostal women in the NYC social activist world. The chapter was reprinted in Azusa Street and Beyond 100 Years of Commentary on the Global/Pentecostal Charismatic Movement which was highlighted at the Azusa Street Centennial. Presently, she is represented by Word Serve Literary, as she works on her own book to encourage and give practical tips to women so they can get back up after life has knocked them down. 

She has been mentioned or featured in numerous magazines for her ministry achievements and her “blatina” style of ministry and philosophy including Ministries Today, Prism, Christianity Today and most recently the cover of Outreach Magazine's Nov/Dec 2007 issue on Hispanics in America as a "Face of the Future".   She considers herself to be a Latina who is double-dipped (to quote Paula White). As an advocate for education, she's been an adjunct professor at Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary at both the NYC and Washington, DC campuses as well as Trinity International University's South Florida campus.

At present, Dr. Liz also serves as Executive Pastor and Overseer of the Women's Ministry at Save The Nations church in Davie, FL and serves the wider faith community by consulting with ministries and non-profits who have an extreme dream for their organizations or life and desire advice on philanthropy practices, fund development, grant-writing, digital public relations and foundation research.  Her clients past and present in various parts of the country have included His Song Ministries -TN (Judy Jacobs), Miami Bethany Community Services-FL, Latino Pastoral Action Center-NY, Lehigh Learning Academy-PA, Greater Teaneck Fellowship Church-NJ, Vision Urbana-NY and a host of others. You can find out more about her consulting firm Extreme Dream International here.

Since 1996, she's been the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Center for Emerging Female Leadership, a leading influential leadership development organization focused on helping women work at and achieve their God-given dreams in their educational, personal and professional pursuits. She is a Leadership and Life Coach through the coaching arm of CEFL, helping women rebound of life's blows and reach for their dreams. Her mission in this regard is to help women reach their true potential and be successful in every area of their life by helping them rebound from life through self-care, wellness and personal awareness so they can rebuild their life.

Dr. Rios is active as a nationally recognized leader in the faith-based social justice community invited to speak and write on many issues related to women in leadership, church ministry and leadership development. She is also an charter member of Delta Sigma Theta South Broward Alumnae Chapter where she serves as Assistant Journalist. Her educational background consists of a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, a Master of Arts in Management with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management from the Regent University School of Business and an earned Doctorate in Education in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. She has done post- graduate work at Fordham University School of Religion, Indiana University Center of Philanthropy and the Blanton Peale Graduate Institute for Pastoral Counseling.

With her vast experiences as a church planter, pastor, key church leader, nonprofit executive, credentialed minister and educator who understands the challenges of each role as she has experienced both failure and success, as well as rejoicing and regret she brings the sum of all her experiences to each endeavor she undertakes. Dr. Rios says her life goal is simply to encourage individuals to "live out loud instead of hiding in life" because "a rebound is always possible when you believe."   

In addition to all she does, she counts her family as her most important role. She is married to her wonderful husband of 20 years, Hiram Rios (who also serves as a Pastor), and is the mom of two very different boys, Samuel (12) who is homeschooled through Lighthouse Christian Academy and Daniel Jeremiah (DJ-10) who is special needs due to hospital negligence and is now cortically blind, has CP, hydrocephalus and a seizure disorder. A dog lover, she also shares her home with Taino (Golden Retriever Mix), Lady (Boxer), Coco (Daschund) and Rocko (English Bulldog). Together they enjoy the benefits of a Godly and wholesome family in West Miramar, FL.