World Institute on Disability proudly announces swearing in of Executive Director Kathleen Martinez as Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).  ODEP was established to bring permanent focus within the U.S. Department of Labor and across the Federal government to address barriers to employment facing people with disabilities and to better coordinate matters affecting employment of Americans with disabilities.

Martinez was appointed WID’s Executive Director in 2005, after serving as Deputy Director since 2002.  Under her leadership, WID launched dynamic programs including Proyecto Visión (National Technical Assistance Center to increase employment opportunities for Latinos with disabilities) and the critically-acclaimed international webzine, DisabilityWorld (www.disabilityworld.org, published in English and Spanish); continued groundbreaking health care access and personal assistance services (PAS) research; and expanded cutting-edge programs including Access to Assets (asset-building project to help reduce poverty among Americans with disabilities) and the California Work Incentives Initiative (home of Disability Benefits 101 Information Services, www.db101.org). Most of WID’s projects supporting health care access, employment and economic security are bilingual in English and Spanish. According to Ken Chrisman, President of the WID Board of Directors, “We will dearly miss Kathy’s enduring contributions to WID and wish her the same continued success in her new position at the Department of Labor.”

Martinez is an internationally recognized disability rights leader specializing in employment, asset building, independent living, international development, and diversity and gender issues.  Because of her multi-dimensional expertise, she has frequently been tapped for public service. In 2007 she was appointed board member of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a Congressionally-created agency dedicated to research projects in conflict management. In 2005 then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed her to the State Department advisory committee on disability and foreign policy. In 2002 President Bush appointed her to the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency advising the President and Congress on disability policy. She testified for Congress on human rights of people with disabilities worldwide.

"I am excited about joining the talented team at the Department of Labor and ODEP who are committed to implementing President Obama's vision of greatly improved employment opportunities for Americans with disabilities. As a blind Latina, I have had some experience with obstacles created by low expectations, and look forward to helping to raise the bar so that in the future every disabled youth is expected to succeed and given the opportunity to do so," stated Kathy Martinez.

Martinez also served on AT&T’s Advisory Panel on Access & Aging (AAPAA) and has conducted disability awareness training for corporations such as Merck, AT&T, Wal-Mart, Sodexo, and Verizon, among others.  In academia, she lent expertise as keynoter for Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD), UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Leadership Institute for Managers with Disabilities, University of Minnesota and Yale Law School.

On a global level, she keynoted conferences and/or conducted trainings in Brazil, China, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and Switzerland, and worked with the United Nations General Assembly, Rehabilitation International, and is a board member of the U.S. Council for International Disability (USCID). Martinez is fluent in English, Spanish and Braille.

An internationally recognized public policy center founded in 1983 by leaders of the Independent Living Movement, WID works to eliminate barriers to full social integration and increase employment, economic security and health care for persons with disabilities. WID creates innovative programs and tools; conducts research, public education, training and advocacy campaigns; and provides technical assistance, all focused on issues and problems that directly affect people’s ability to live full and independent lives. A majority of the Board and staff are persons with disabilities.