Martina is working with the RJI Innovation Team on the VERDAD tool to build and implement it in newsrooms across the country. VERDAD helps journalists investigate content targeting immigrant and minority communities through their trusted media sources. By recording radio broadcasts, then transcribing, translating, and analyzing them in real-time, we help journalists investigate campaigns designed to spread false information.

She is the founder and director of the Race & Justice Reporting Initiative at the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit. Martina furthers her commitment to representative democracy by fearlessly advocating for fellow journalists of color and promoting higher pay for independent journalists. She is a graduate of the Journalism School at Columbia University in New York City and a 2023 JSK Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. Martina is a lifelong Detroiter and the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants.