Amber Martinez moved from Toledo, Ohio to Moore, Oklahoma when she was five. Eventually she moved to Oklahoma City, which is now her home. Her first love was science. During her 10th grade biology class she noticed her teacher had given incorrect information and pointed it out. Her teacher challenged her to find evidence to support this, and then she would correct it. Amber did just that. Her teacher allowed her to research the facts, and from that moment her heart belonged to science. After high school, she pursued a bachelor’s degree in cell and molecular biology and began working in an immunology lab studying rheumatoid arthritis. From there, she ventured into microbiology at a local biotech company. Somewhere along the way, and not really understanding why, she began working on a master‘s in public health. She knew nothing about public health, let alone the impact it would have on her. It was during the course of her degree that she discovered her passion, her calling, her purpose. Her life, past, and future began to fall into place, and she knew deep within she was exactly where she was supposed to be, doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing. There’s a song by Ani Difranco that she heard a long, long time ago, but the words still resonate: “God’s work isn’t done by God, it’s done by people.” She currently serves the 43 federally recognized tribes of the Southern Plains as program coordinator of the Health Disparities Grant.
