Kim Carter Martinez grew up in New Jersey. You’ll note that her Jersey accent is gone, but the attitude remains pretty much intact. She grew up in an interracial and interfaith activist home.  Kim’s mom (Inaclaire) came from a family of Russian Jewish immigrants, who settled in Newark, New Jersey. Her father (Rowland) grew up in the Bronx, in a Jehovah’s Witness household.  Both of her parents were involved in their unions, and Kim grew up marching on picket lines and in New York City’s Labor Day Parade.

Kim moved out to the West Coast in the mid nineties to attend The Evergreen State College, where she studied Political Economy and Social Change.  While in college, she worked as a home healthcare worker. The organization she worked for went through a union organization drive, and Kim volunteered to help her fellow homecare workers win dignity, respect and a living wage. After a few months, she started working for the union full time, at the age of 20.

Kim has continued to work in the labor movement for the last 27 years. Her last position was as the organizing director for the country’s largest faculty union where she was responsible for directing staff, directing  field campaigns and leading contract campaigns Her previous positions were as the Organizing Director for a large local union, Deputy Director for a large Statewide Union, and Regional Field Education Director for a large International Union.  In these positions, she has created programs to develop and mentor volunteer activists and staff, directed large scale grassroots organizing campaigns throughout the states of California and New Mexico, and led contract bargaining, mobilization campaigns and strikes. 

When not working, Kim has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations. California Prison Focus is a prison reform organization, which is dedicated to stopping human rights abuses in California’s state prisons. In this position she mentored and coordinated volunteers, and also did grant writing, investigative visits to prisons, and published writings on and spoke on her findings. 

Kim served on the Regional Council of the Bend the Arc, an organization that educates, advocates and organizes on issues of peace, equality, diversity and justice, as a progressive voice in the Jewish community and a Jewish voice in the progressive community.

Kim also served as a commissioner on the City of Oakland’s Sugar Sweetened Beverage Commission where she was tasked with safeguarding Measure JJ funds and deciding on how to allocate them in a way that helped mitigate the impacts of sugar sweetened beverages on low-income communities of color. Kim currently serves on the Sacramento Community Police Review Commission where she analyzes police department policies and practices to ensure transparency and accountability within the Sacramento Police Department. 

Additionally, Kim volunteers with the American Diabetes Association for their Annual Tour De Cure, which raises almost 2 million dollars a year for diabetes research. She was the chairperson of the event for six years. Previous to that, she was the volunteer coordinator. Kim also serves on the Community Leadership Board of the American Diabetes Association. Kim is a type 1 diabetic, and also lost her mom to the disease, so the issue holds very true to her heart. Kim is also an elected ADEM. Finally, Kim serves on the Board of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE) an organization centered around a more just economy.

For more on Kim’s resume: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimjoycarter/