While Martinez has lived and worked in Ogden for nearly seven years, she believes she’s done more in that time than most becoming engaged in the community. Martinez began working with people here as a case manager with the Division of Child and Family Services in Ogden.

“I applaud the work they do,” she said of veteran case managers. “But my heart can only take so much.”

After two years with DCFS, Martinez switched gears by taking on a community outreach position with Ogden-Weber Technical College promoting diversity and inclusion. She served on Ogden’s Diversity Commission promoting civil rights and social action and is currently a member of both the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Ogden City Action Network.

Martinez said she noticed a lot of changes occurring in Ogden, inspiring her to see that the people of Ogden are being equally represented. In her view, everyone should be represented no matter their race, economic status or political affiliation.

She said there are plenty of like-minded people making decisions about Ogden’s future, and there needs to be different voices involved in the development changes.

As a first-generation American, Martinez said she’s excited about the opportunity to champion the voices that have not been at the table. Much like her opponent, Kenneth Richey, Martinez never thought of entering the political arena until recently.

“I decided to take a leap of faith,” she said.

Setting aside her aspirations of continuing on to law school after graduating from the University of California-Irvine, she left her hometown of Los Angeles to experience Utah. Martinez has since obtained her master’s in public policy from Northwestern University remotely.

She still thinks about attending law school in the future, but for now she is focused on helping Ogden residents, and for her that means being proactive in finding solutions.