Alma K. Martinez | 2023 Latina of Influence
We are pleased to announce that Alma K. Martinez City Manager for the City of El Monte in the County of Los Angeles has been selected as a Hispanic Lifestyle 2023 Latina of Influence. Ms. Martinez will be recognized for her leadership in our community during Hispanic Lifestyle’s Latina Conference 2023 to be held on November 9, 2023 at Wilson Creek Winery, Temecula, California.
Ms. Alma K. Martinez is currently serving as the City Manager for the City of El Monte in the County of Los Angeles. In this capacity, she is responsible for the day-to-day operations and responsibilities of a city with 115,000 residents, 300 employees, and an annual budget of $165.2 million. Ms. Martinez is the first woman, and the first Latina, to serve as the City Manager in the City of El Monte. Before her appointment as City Manager, Ms. Martinez served as the Assistant City Manager for the City of El Monte for fifteen months. Prior to her tenure in El Monte, Alma served as the City Manager for the City of Lynwood. Before joining the City of Lynwood, she was the Assistant City Manager for the City of Compton. One of Ms. Martinez’s accomplishments in Compton included the lead economic incentive negotiations for UPS which will yield: over 70 million dollars of investment with a close to 1 million dollars of tax revenues per year; and over 300 union jobs which includes 50 positions for Compton residents.
Ms. Martinez brings over a decade of experience in building private-public relationships. In the private sector, as the Vice President for a major development firm, Ms. Martinez researched and identified new development opportunities throughout the Country by working with local government municipalities and consultants. She managed development projects from conceptual design through project execution;
including entitlements, zoning, permitting, environmental impact reports, pre-construction and construction activities.
Ms. Martinez is well-versed in the utilization of various financing tools; including New Market Tax Credits (NMTC), a Federal Program designed to spur revitalization efforts in low-income and impoverished communities across the United States. Of special note, the NMTC Program provides tax credit incentives to investors for equity investments through certified Community Development Entities, which invest in low-income communities. Ms. Martinez participated in financial transactions involving the financial deal structuring for various projects and the deployment of NMTCs. Before joining the private sector, Ms. Martinez ran the day-to-day operations of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office-Dispute Resolution Program where she trained mediators, conducted and supervised thousands of mediations and negotiations for both the private and public sector. During her work at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Ms. Martinez worked as a Community Outreach Coordinator for the Code Enforcement Unit where she created strategic outreach plans to promote code enforcement activities including unit prosecutions and housing assistance programs.
Ms. Martinez is a graduate of UCLA where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, with a minor in Political Science. For her graduate studies, she attended the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs where she earned a Master Degree in Urban Planning.
