Dr. Monica Martinez, Vice President for Education Strategy, guides the Foundation's work to transform the national education landscape, overseeing the development of new initiatives and coordination of strategic planning that result from our 2006-2016 Map of Future Forces Affecting Education.

Prior to being named Vice President, Martinez was an adviser to the foundation as Senior Fellow, providing expertise on issues related to educational access and achievement for low-income and minority students.

Martinez founded the National High School Alliance, a partnership of more than 40 organizations sharing a common commitment to promoting excellence, equity, and development of high-school-age youth, while she was at the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington D.C. She also served as a Senior Associate at the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), overseeing IEL's work with the Pathways to College Network. In addition, she was Project Director for the National Clearinghouse for School Reform (NCCSR); the Theme High Schools Network (THiSNET.org); and the Catalog of Core Research on Secondary School Reform.

Martinez has contributed to many policy and research initiatives to reform education, including a University of Maryland effort to improve the quality of teaching through engagement in collaborative action research and conducting research at the New York University Institute for Education and Public Policy to support the development of small schools in New York City.

Martinez received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the School of Education at New York University and her bachelor's degree from Baylor University.