Michele Martinez

Michele served for 12 years as a council member in the city of Santa Ana, CA (2006-18). During this time, she became the first council member to serve as president of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), the first council member to serve as president of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), and the youngest woman to serve as the mayor pro tem for the city of Santa Ana.

Since leaving public office, Michele has been volunteering her time by serving as a pro-bono policy advisor for U.S. District Judge David O. Carter on the issue of homelessness for North and Central Orange County. Furthermore, Michele was recently appointed by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter to serve as a special master on the issues of homelessness, and the specific lawsuit by the Alliance for Human Rights against the City and County of Los Angeles regarding homelessness. Recently Michele was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the California Transportation Commission.