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Rita Maniotis grew up in Waterloo, Iowa but has lived in Illinois for almost a decade. She attended graduate school at SIU Carbondale and received a Masters degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in Theatre History in 1982. After living in on both coasts, she returned to the Midwest, and in 2005, she received a Masters degree in teaching from Concordia University in River Forest, Illinois.

Maniotis is a high school teacher and an activist. She has taught at Proviso East High School in Maywood and Ralph Ellison Charter High School in Chicago. In 2001, Maniotis moved to Berwyn, Illinois with her husband and three children who have graduated from or are still attending public schools.

Rita Maniotis has been an active participant in her children's schooling. She served on the board of Mark Twain School PTO in Iowa City 1998-2001, and while President of Emerson School PTA, 2002—2004, she successfully passed a resolution to halt the Hepatitis B vaccine mandate in the state at the 2004 Illinois PTA Convention. She is immediate past President of Morton West High School PTO where she created a member email list-serve, worked to set up a website, established monthly parent information programs including a forum for school board candidates, and served on the discipline committee where she helped to ban the use of stun guns on campus.

In addition to volunteering at her children's schools, she has been active in grass roots political groups. As Secretary of Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice, 2006—2008, Maniotis has been instrumental in placing three advisory questions on the Berwyn Township ballot concerning troop withdrawal from the Iraq War and local initiatives to curb global warming. She also serves as secretary of the Illinois Vaccine Awareness Coalition and is an Active Member of the West Side Greens.

A former public radio producer, Rita (Sand) Maniotis continues to produce "From the Trenches," the radio project of the Chicago Independent Media Center, which is heard monthly on 88.7FM WLUW.