With a public service career spanning more than 20 years, Martha Gonzalez-Cortes has a proven track record of effectiveness working in non-profit, academic, and public policy environments. She currently serves as the director of foundation relations for the Michigan Donor Alliance. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr College and a master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from Stanford University. Throughout her career, Martha has served as a professional consultant for nonprofit organizations interested in strengthening their leadership development, grant writing, program development and strategic operations. She has also worked closely with individual organizations and collaborative groups interested in strengthening their community impact, racial equity, or racial justice focus.
Martha most recently served as the vice president of community investment for the Kalamazoo Community Foundation in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In that role she led the public policy and impact investment work of the foundation; supervised the team responsible for distributing grants into the community; and helped lead key initiatives such as the Kalamazoo Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) initiative. She was the first woman of color to serve as a vice president of this 95-year-old community foundation and also served as one of the founding elected co-chairs of the Latino Affinity Network (LAN) under the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF). Martha also served as the community relations director for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR), managing the statewide education and outreach team of the MDCR Community Relations Division. Prior to working for the state of Michigan, she served as CEO of the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan in Grand Rapids for 9 years and served as the state director for the Office of Migrant Affairs in Lansing for more than five years. Martha respectfully acknowledges that she resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan on the traditional territory of the people of the Three Fires or Anishinabek – the Odawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi people and prefers she/her/ella pronouns.
