Martinez, Ceclia
Ceclia Martinez
Dr. Cecilia Martinez is an energy, environmental justice, and policy expert and advocate. Originally from Taos, New Mexico, she completed her education at Stanford University, New Mexico State University, and the University of Delaware. Dr. Martinez founded the Center for Earth, Energy, and Democracy (CEED) in 2011. Dr. Martinez has also worked at the Environmental Protection Agency and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at the University of Delaware. Dr. Martinez is the Senior Director for Environmental Justice in the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Principal Advisor, and Chief of Environmental and Climate Justice at the Bezos Earth Fund.
Byrne, J., Martinez, C., & Ruggero, C. 2009. Relocating energy in the social commons: Ideas for a sustainable energy utility. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 29(2), 81-94.
Byrne, J., Glover, L., & Martinez, C. (Eds.). 2002. Environmental justice: discourses in international political economy, Transaction Publishers, 8.
Martinez, C. R. 1990. Energy, technics and postindustrial society: The political economy of inequality. Volumes I and II). University of Delaware.
Martinez, C. 2017. From commodification to the commons: Charting the pathway for energy democracy. Energy democracy: Advancing equity in clean energy solutions, 21-36.
Martinez, C. 2016. Environmental Justice and the Clean Power Plan: The Case of Energy Efficiency. Wm. & Mary Envtl. L. & Pol’y Rev., 41, 605.
Dr. Cecilia Martinez was born in Taos, New Mexico. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Stanford University in 1979. After her undergraduate studies, Dr. Martinez pursued a Master of Public Administration at New Mexico State University, which she completed in 1982. She then received a Ph.D. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy in 1990 from the University of Delaware, where she studied radiation poisoning from nuclear energy in society and the environment.
Dr. Cecilia Martinez became the Program Director for the Center for Earth, Energy, and Democracy (CEED) from 2008 to 2010 and returned in 2012 as Executive Director. CEED researches building local environmental justice networks and supporting grassroots leadership on emerging energy issues. As part of CEED, Dr. Martinez helped create the Equitable and Just Climate Platform in 2018 in collaboration with the Center for American Progress and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Within the time frame of 2010 to 2013, Dr. Martinez also held a role on a National Advisory Committee with the Environmental Protection Agency and served as an Associate Research Professor at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at the University of Delaware. Dr. Martinez is the Senior Director for Environmental Justice in the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where the Biden Administration appointed her. She also serves as the Principal Advisor and the Chief of Environmental and Climate Justice at the Bezos Earth Fund. The Bezos Earth Fund works toward advancing environmental justice through addressing climate change and restoring nature. In her role, Dr. Martinez ensures the Fund’s initiatives align with building resilience and strengthening communities.
New Jersey Senator Corey Booker nominated Dr. Martinez as one of the Time’s Top 100 in 2020. Dr. Martinez was also named the Champion of Change in Climate Equity in 2016 by the Obama White House.
Cecilia Martinez. (2023). Bezos Earth Fund. https://www.bezosearthfund.org/who-we-are/our-people/cecilia-martinez
Interview conducted by Multicultural Environmental Leadership Development Initiative staff. 2016. University of Michigan – School of Natural Resources and Environment. Ann Arbor, MI.
Wikipedia Contributors. (2023, October 14). Cecilia Martinez. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Martinez