I am an author, education consultant and strategist, and appointee to the White House Commission of Educational Excellence for Hispanics. I work with nonprofits, foundations, and education systems across the K-16 sector. My career encompasses major programmatic, management and executive leadership roles, including hands-on experience running and supporting major foundation initiatives and is marked by my knowledge of secondary reform and college success. As an education strategist, I have served in an advisory capacity to leaders’ of multiple organizations, including non profits, state systems, and foundations to assist in creating, revising, or implementing their education initiatives. Some of my clients have included The Carnegie Corporation, The Community College of Philadelphia, The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, I served as the President of the New Tech Network and the Vice President for Education Strategy at KnowledgeWorks. In Washington, DC, I was a senior associate at the Institute for Educational Leadership where I founded the Washington, D.C.-based National High School Alliance while developing and managing three other projects. My forthcoming book, Deeper Learning: How Eight Innovative Public Schools Are Transforming Education in the Twenty-First Century (http://thenewpress.com/authors/monica-r-martinez), will be published in June, 2014.

Martinez was a columnist for Phi Delta Kappan and a contributing author to Double the Numbers for College (Harvard Press), Saving America’s High School (Urban Institute) and independent reports. She is a national public speaker on the topics of education reform, high school innovation and the future of learning. A recent talk; can be found at www.TEDxWashingtonHeights.com.

Martinez serves on the board for Education Tallships, AdvancED (an international accreditation agency) and 10,000 Degrees. Most recently she served on the board for Grant Makers for Education and the Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Student Learning convened by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Monica earned her PhD in Sociology of Education and Higher Education Administration from the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University and her B.A. from Baylor University.