Martha is a first generation Mexican-American, born and raised in Los Angeles. Over the last six years, Martha has worked in the field of education to empower youth to build their best selves. Her passion for education and developing youth programs stems from the challenges she experienced being a first generation college student. She received her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), in the School of Social Sciences.

During her undergraduate degree, Martha worked as an  Outreach Coordinator for Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA) de UCI, where she worked on a high school youth mentoring program and provided opportunities to explore higher education. She was also awarded the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, where she and a team started La Escuelita Summer Program for youth in Santa Ana, Ca. As part of their research efforts and to further understand the impact of a multicultural pedagogy approach in the classroom, the team visited and observed schools in San Francisco where ethnic studies was implemented in the high school curriculum. Her final undergraduate research project focused on the inequities in the educational system for students in farmworker communities and the lack of accessibility to educational tools needed for students to succeed. 

Before joining the Cal Walks team, Martha was involved in Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program implementation and community programming for students and families in Alameda County, Fremont, Los Angeles, Rialto and San Bernardino County. As an instructor and coordinator for SRTS programs, she has learned about the health and safety impacts of these programs and the importance of program accessibility to those in underserved communities. In her free time, Martha enjoys exploring the outdoors, baking for family and friends and caring for her plants.