Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy Kathleen Martinez

(Photo by Shawn Moore)

Kathleen Martinez was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the third Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 25, 2009. As head of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Ms. Martinez advises the Secretary of Labor and works with all DOL agencies to lead a comprehensive and coordinated national policy regarding the employment of people with disabilities.

Blind since birth, Ms. Martinez comes to ODEP with a background as an internationally recognized disability rights leader specializing in employment, asset building, independent living, international development, diversity and gender issues.

She was appointed Executive Director of the World Institute on Disability (WID), based in Oakland, California, in 2005. Ms. Martinez directed Proyecto Visión, WID's National Technical Assistance Center to increase employment opportunities for Latinos with disabilities in the United States, and Access to Assets, an asset-building project to help reduce poverty among people with disabilities. At WID, she also led the team that produced the acclaimed international webzine DisabilityWorld in English and Spanish.

In 2007, she was appointed a member of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a Congressionally-created agency dedicated to research and projects in conflict management. In 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed her as one of eight public members of the newly-established State Department advisory committee on disability and foreign policy.

In 2002, she was appointed by President Bush as one of 15 members of the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency advising the President and Congress on disability policy.

Assistant Secretary Martinez in the news:

• Assistant Secretary Martinez Sworn in at Formal Ceremony
  • Pictures from the ceremony:

• The Secretary's welcome to Assistant Secretary Martinez:
"Kathleen Martinez is our new Assistant Secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy.
Most recently, Kathy was the Executive Director of the World Institute on Disability. In 2005, she was appointed to State Departments's Committee on Disability and Foreign Policy and prior to that she was appointed by former President Bush to the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency responsible for advising the President and Congress on disability policy. Welcome on board, Kathy"
• Meet the Team
• Watch the Video
• Assistant Secretary named to HispanicBusiness “100 Influentials”
• Senate Confirms Connected Nation Board Member Martinez for Obama Administration Role (IssuesWire 7/14/09)
• Martinez Confirmed as Head of DOL’s Disability Office (SHRM Online 7/8/09)

Assistant Secretary Martinez’s Speeches and Messages

• NDEAM 2009 Message