Cecilia Martinez is an American environmental activist and the senior director for

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

at the

Council on Environmental Quality The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal Natural environment, environmental efforts in the United States ...

and co-founder and executive director of the Center for Earth, Energy, and Democracy. In 2020, she was named one of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine's

100 Most Influential People ''Time'' 100 is a list of the top 100 most influential people, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly ...

, nominated by

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Senator

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democ ...

for her work in environmental justice and climate policy. On September 5, 2020, she was announced as a member of the

Advisory Board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...

of United States President-elect

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

Education and early career

Martinez was raised in

Taos, New Mexico Taos () is a town in Taos County, New Mexico, Taos County, in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Santa Fe ...

. She credits her upbringing in the mountains as her motivation for protecting and caring for the environment. Martinez attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

where she received her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1979. She then attended

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

, where she received her

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

degree in 1982. She then continued on to the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

to pursue a

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in urban affairs and public policy, which she received in 1990. Martinez's early research centered on

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity *Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy, the pot ...

and the effects of radiation poisoning on populations and environments. While in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, she began working more with communities of color in environmental justice policy work. Eventually, she left academia to focus more on environmental justice organizing.

Environmental justice advocacy

Martinez is recognized for her work advocating for environmental justice, centering the voices and perspectives of communities that have been most impacted by climate change and

environmental pollution ''Environmental Pollution'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the biological, health, and ecological effects of environmental pollution. It was established in 1980 as two parts: ''Environmental Pollution Series A: Ecological and Biologi ...

. She co-founded the Center for Earth, Energy, and Democracy (CEED), which launched in 2011. The organization works to provide research and analytical support to environmental justice groups and coalitions, as well as educating and empowering communities at the forefront of the environmental justice movement. In her capacity as executive director of CEED, Martinez helped shape and launch the Equitable and Just Climate Platform in 2018, a collaboration among CEED, the

Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy think tank, research and advocacy organization which presents a Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal viewpoint on Economic policy, economic and social issues. CAP is headquarter ...

, and the

Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States–based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicag ...

. Participants in the platform worked together to propose an agenda for environment and climate policy that centers the needs and concerns of communities that have been most affected by pollution; the agenda was subsequently published in July 2019. On the platform's anniversary in July 2020, Martinez and

John Podesta John David Podesta Jr. (born January 8, 1949) is an American political consultant who served as Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy from 2024 to 2025, having previously served as the Senior Advisor to the President ...

co-authored a call to tackle environmental racism while addressing the health and economic impacts of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In the run up to the

2020 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala H ...

, candidate

invited Martinez to join his Climate Engagement Advisory Council, which focused on mobilizing voters and fine-tuning Biden's climate policies. She also advised on developing his $2 trillion plan to

combat climate change Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include conserving energy and replacing fossil fuels with clean energy sour ...

, which includes a commitment to invest 40% of clean energy money into communities that have been disproportionately impacted by

environmental racism Environmental racism, ecological racism, or ecological apartheid is a form of racism leading to negative environmental outcomes such as landfills, Incineration, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal disproportionately impacting Community ...

. In this capacity, Martinez focused on advocating for the importance of environmental justice in climate policies. After Biden was elected

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, she was appointed to his transition team to lead the review of the

and was on the shortlist to head the council after his inauguration.

Awards and honors

* ''Time'' 100, 2020 *

Obama White House Barack Obama's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 44th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Barack Obama, his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democra ...

Champion of Change, Climate Equity, 2016

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Cecilia American environmentalists Biden administration personnel Living people New Mexico State University alumni People from Taos, New Mexico People of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Stanford University alumni University of Delaware alumni Year of birth missing (living people)