Valery Martinez

Valery was born and raised in San Jose, California, and graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in human development and a minor in nutrition. Valery dedicated her summers to serving low-income and racially/ethnically diverse communities in her hometown while being an advocate for social justice issues at school. Most recently, she helped organize the 5th Biennial National Latino Cancer Summit to help promote collaboration between community health workers and leading researchers in precision medicine. Last year she traveled abroad to Vietnam, South Africa, and Argentina, comparing public health models to understand the important role that social health determinants play at an individual, community, and policy level.

Field placement: San Diego Hunger Coalition

San Diego, California

Policy placement: Center for the Study of Social Policy

Washington, D.C.