Leslie Martinez

Leslie Martinez has a diverse work experience spanning several fields. Leslie started their career as a Graduate Assistant at NYU, where they coordinated tech and media meet-ups, designed a student portfolio book, and developed prework curriculum. Leslie then worked as a User Experience Designer & Researcher at the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics, conducting research on website UX best practices.

In 2015, Leslie joined The Digital Citizens Lab as a Design Researcher, focusing on civic technology and play, and worked on improving access to legal information for unaccompanied immigrant children. Leslie also participated in the prototyping and testing of a digital comic.

From 2015 to 2017, Leslie worked at NYC Media Lab as a Project Manager, overseeing the Combine program. Leslie managed logistics for the final demo day and supported the market validation period for nine teams.

In 2017, Leslie held various roles, including being a Resident at TED Conferences, a Lead Organizer at Hack the Ban, and a Design Thinking Coach for WiTNY at Cornell Tech. Leslie facilitated design thinking exercises and coached cohorts on design frameworks.

That same year, Leslie worked as a Program Manager at The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, managing the archival and publishing of video interviews for the project "Ecologies of Migrant Care" and conducting extensive research on the Central American immigration crisis in Mexico.

In 2018, Leslie joined FWD.us as a Product Manager, where they managed various websites and brands. Leslie worked with external developers, provided requirements for new features, and launched new sites. Leslie then became the Team Lead for Informed Immigrant, where they designed programming for educational web content for the undocumented immigrant community.

In 2020, Leslie advanced to the position of Director for Informed Immigrant at FWD.us, where they assessed opportunities for optimization, led research on target communities, and conducted usability testing for the website.

Throughout their career, Leslie has demonstrated a strong commitment to social impact and leveraging technology for positive change.

Leslie Martinez obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism & P.R. from Southeastern University, where they studied from 2004 to 2007. In 2014, they pursued a Master of Science degree in Integrated Digital Media from New York University, completing it in 2016. Before attending Southeastern University, Leslie spent the year 2003 to 2004 at Pratt Institute. Leslie also holds several additional certifications, including a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification from Scrum Alliance, which they obtained in February 2020. In December 2016, they obtained certifications in "Planning a Career in User Experience" and "Project Management Simplified" from Lynda.com.