Hispanic Heritage Series (Part IV of V)
Joelle Martinez’ family roots in Colorado date back to at least the 1500s in the southern Colorado and northern New Mexico area.
Her great grandparents moved from the San Luis Valley to the Denver metro area to pursue educational and economic opportunities. And ever since then, Martinez’s family has gone on to become active civic leaders, business owners, and others who have positively impacted Coloradans.
Martinez’s father owned a telecommunications business while her mother worked for U.S. Bank where she became one of the first Latinas to become a branch president and launched one of the first diversity, equity, and inclusion programs for the bank. Also, Martinez’ grandmother, Ramona Martinez, a former Denver City Councilwoman helped shape, ignite and lead those efforts that advanced the city’s success and growth for many years.
Following in her family’s footsteps, Martinez worked as a political strategist where she spent time consulting on major campaigns, leading communication efforts, and designing public policy awareness campaigns. Through politics, Martinez wanted to make a difference in the community and felt that positively impacting policy was a way to do so. And even though she said the campaigns and projects she got to work on were wonderful, she found that she was often the only Latina, and sometimes woman, in the room during her career.
“My experience being in these elevated leadership positions and a realization that at the time (2012) that politics and the world had changed, I realized we could affect more change if we really invest in developing the leaders who could go on to create a ripple effect,” said Martinez.
After being approached by various Latino leaders in the Denver area who founded the Latino Leadership Institute, Martinez decided to join in the effort and to help spearhead the organization. Today, the Latino Leadership Institute prepares Latino leaders for positions of power and influence, collects and shares relevant data about Latinos, and partners with organizations to create more inclusivity.
In particular, the Latino Leadership Institute (LLI) offers its Ignite leadership program which is designed to reflect the diversity of experiences within the Latino community while meeting individuals where they are in their leadership journey. The program helps Latino professionals explore identity, build confidence, develop executive decision-making techniques, and create a framework for advancement driven by values and goals.
The organization also offers its Latino Entrepreneur Access Program (LEAP), a one-year program designed to help Latino and BIPOC founders and business owners sustain profitable revenue growth, access new capital from public and private financing sources, and more.
Martinez said her job is rewarding and discussed meeting with a resident who graduated through the Ignite program. Since going through the program, that resident has applied for elevated leadership roles and grown to understand his position as a community leader and the power he has to create change, Martinez said.
“When we can ignite that in one person and understand what that ripple effect looks like, you begin to see the real impact of our work. I cherish the individual successes and this collective wave of change that we are working to start,” said Martinez.
Those who are interested in participating in the Latino Leadership Institute’s programs should visit latinoslead.org.
