David Martinez was born and raised in Ontario, Oregon. He attended Willamette University and was the first of his family to graduate college. After graduating he worked with Latinx students at different schools and universities and gained more than twenty years of experience in higher education student affairs. He also worked for Oregon Health and Science University as the Diversity Manager for Student Recruitment and Retention. Martinez was the past Chair of the Cesar E. Chavez Leadership Conference. He was also a founding board member of Portland’s Q Center and the co-founder for PDX Latinx Pride. At the time of the interview he was the Deputy Director of Internal Operations at Latino Network.

Interview conducted by Sophia Fischer and supported by the OSU Honors College / Center for the Humanities Summer Internship. The interview is also a component of the Latinos en Oregón Oral History Collection (OH 032), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries.