About Me
Jennifer Martinez was born and raised in California's Central Valley to farmworkers that settled in a community that was primarily low-income and heavily dependent agriculture and oil. Jennifer considers her hometown at the juncture of local needs and global demands that create obstacles at several crossroads—income, class, identity, gender, race, sexuality, immigration status, food systems, and environment. Unknowingly, Jennifer's desire for public service began here.
After completing her undergraduate course work at San Diego State University (SDSU), Jennifer moved to Texas and attained her Masters of Public Administration. During this time, she gained an interest in Mexico's public finance system through several research projects she worked on as a graduate student. Her work eventually led to a fellowship at SDSU's Institute of Public and Urban Affairs and to her first academic publication.
While in Texas, Jennifer worked in a local government as a financial analyst. Under great mentorship, she learned the inner working of public finance, including budgeting, finance, and debt management.
After these foundational learning experiences, Jennifer moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue a Ph.D. in Public Affairs and Policy at Portland State University (PSU). In Oregon, Jennifer has served on Metro's Solid Waste Fees and Tax Subcommittee and Portland's Budget Advisory Council. She has also worked extensively with PSU's Center for Public Service on numerous projects. Her support to the center has ranged from helping host the first-ever Latinx Institute for Public Service to number crunching for various public finance projects.
Today, as a Ph.D. candidate, her dissertation focuses on the impacts remittances have on democratic institutions and civic participation. She has presented several papers at various conferences, and in 2018 she was elected as one of American Society for Public Administration's International Young Scholars.
Jennifer has successfully merged the academic world with advocacy, to what she calls and 'advocademic.' She has served on boards, such as Oregon Latino Agenda for Action, ASPA's Cascade Chapter, Repatriate Our Patriots, and is an associate editor at the Hatfield Journal of Public Affairs.
She believes storytelling is at the center of enacting change. At UC Davis's Institute for Rural Studies, she worked on a podcast focused on how historical exclusions of the National Labor Relations Act complicates retirement for farmworkers. Jennifer also teaches introductory courses at PSU, such as U.S. Politics, U.S. Government, and Latin American Politics.
Jennifer's portfolio is extensive. Ultimately, she aspires to continue researching public finance, civic participation, and along the way, integrate her research skills with community outreach, advocacy, and storytelling to inform today's governance demands.
View her CV here.
About Homegurl Politix
Homegurl Politix LLC is an ode to Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands. I believe politics always hits at home, hence the 'home' in homegurl. Politics has gendered impacts, and the 'gurl' in home is a celebration of the womxn in our lives that have survived patriarchal societal arrangements and a reminder of the work that remains to reach gender parity across all genders. Politix is a gender-neutral term that reminds us politics and governing requires intersectional and holistic approaches. Homegurl Politix is the recognition that traditional ways of governing must be replaced with critical and fluid modes of sustainable governing that places importance on shifting values, civil rights, human rights, and environmental justice equally.