A first-generation college graduate, Doris Martinez described her new position as Highline College’s Director for Student Diversity and Inclusion as “right where [she’s] supposed to be.”

“I feel like my career is the universe’s way of allowing me to pay it forward,” Martinez said. “To say that I’m lucky or blessed is a complete understatement.”

Martinez was appointed to the position in December after the director of Multicultural Affairs position was redesigned to focus on student retention and academic success, according to Highline College. She has worked at Highline since 2014, holding the positions Coordinator of the Inter-Cultural Center and acting Director for Multicultural Affairs.

While Martinez said she is still learning the ins and outs of her new position, her ultimate goal during her tenure as a director at Highline is for students and the community to have real conversations about what is happening in the world.

“What’s detrimental in this country is we see the differences and we walk with prejudice, we walk with our micro-aggressions, we walk with hate. And it’s not for all of us, that’s not for everybody, but they’re ingrained, ingrained in the media and ingrained in our community,” Martinez said. “What I would ultimately like to be a part of, and I don’t think I can do this work alone… is to tell students we play a part in creating social change and my job is to assist in this dialogue.”

Toni Castro, Highline College’s vice president for student services, said Martinez’s position will provide leadership for Multicultural Affairs but with a focus on “students’ holistic development.”

“At Highline, we are committed to creating a learning environment that welcomes, respects and values the diverse perspectives and experiences of our students,” Castro said in an announcement. “Doris embraces and exemplifies this commitment.”

Martinez, a Federal Way native and current resident, has goals to help students and the community in the ways she was helped when she was still trying to figure out her own cultural identity and pathway in life.

Martinez’s parents immigrated to the United States from Honduras between the 1970s-80s to give both their children and other family members a better life. Martinez and her brother were immersed in their Afro-Latino culture, speaking Garifuna, Spanish and learning English in grade school.

As her mom worked at Decatur High School (from which Martinez herself would graduate in 2004) and her dad worked at the U.S. Postal Service, the value of education was instilled in Martinez from a young age.

“My parents didn’t have the opportunity for education,” Martinez said, adding that her father completed school in Honduras and was in a pre-med program but was never able to finish.

“Growing up, I saw my parets work extremely hard, two jobs each, to support us and family back home.”

Born in Huntington Park, Calif., Martinez spent nearly all of her public education in the Federal Way Public Schools district, except for a few years living with her grandmother in Honduras where she learned to speak Garifuna, a language widely spoken in Honduran villages.

Coming back in 1994 as an English as a Second Language student was difficult, but with the help from her fourth grade teacher Ms. Landskov, she felt she could finally start to communicate with people.

“She really listened to me, attentively listened, not just listen to be passive but really understanding and working with me in putting my words together,” Martinez said. “She’s still someone I’m close with to this day.”

When Martinez got to high school, she appreciated Mr. Kumakura, her Spanish teacher, challenging her in a different way – instead of helping her with English skills, he pushed her in Spanish studies.

“When it came to my work ethic and Spanish classes, I was slacking,” Martinez said. “Part of the reason why is because I’m a Spanish-speaker; I thought I should be OK.”

But Mr. Kumakura did more than help her in class. He helped her with her Afro-Latina identity.

“Growing up, I was very challenged with the kind of looks I’d get from people because I didn’t fit the Spanish-speaking ‘look,'” Martinez said. “He kind of pushed me to shatter those insecurities and be proud of my heritage whether people understood it or not.”

After Martinez attended Highline College, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Seattle University where she studied student development administration. She then spent three years in Philadelphia at a university before returning to Highline.

“Since Doris began working at Highline, she has made significant contributions to strengthening our community through social justice education, diversity programs, mentoring and community engagement,” Castro said. “She is well-prepared for this new role.”

For the third straight year, Highline received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award, a national honor and the 2015 HEED Award by Insight into Diversity magazine, which was presented to 92 institutions nationwide.

In 2014, the college received a prestigious Award of Excellence from the American Association of Community Colleges for increasing diversity and social equity on campus. Highline was one of six colleges in the nation earning recognition and won in the Advancing Diversity category.