Assistant Director
clmartinez@cougarnet.uh.edu
713-743-2964

Hello, my name is Chelsea Martinez and I serve as the Assistant Director for the Center for Student Advocacy and Community. In my role I manage and develop marketing and outreach materials, programming, educational workshops and serve as part of our leadership team for the center.

While I claim Ellicott, Colorado as my hometown, Houston is a place I now proudly call home. Houston has provided me with a lot of opportunities to develop as an educator over the past 10 years. I began working as a college adviser with Advise TX and found my passion for helping other first-generation students. For the next nine years I worked in various roles at community colleges, universities and non-profit organizations to help students through the college going process and developing college access curriculum. For the past 5 years I have had the pleasure of working here at the University of Houston serving as a graduate assistant working with Administration and Finance, a research assistant for the College of Education and in the Office of Admissions as a Recruitment Specialist.

I received my Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a specialization in race and gender relations from Texas A&M University in 2014, my Master of Arts in Global and Cross-Cultural Studies with a certification in mediation from the University of Houston Clear Lake in 2019 and am currently pursuing my PhD in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies here at UH hoping to complete my degree in 2025. My areas of research include women in STEM, first generation students, college student socialization and college students’ sense of belonging. When I do get a bit of free time I enjoy reading, going to the dog park with my fur babies and hiking with my family.

 “Creating belonging on campus can’t just be part of the mission but something we continuously strive for as we build community at UH. One of my favorite things about the University of Houston is from my first step on campus I knew that regardless of who I was or where I came from, everyone here was welcome to grow, learn and thrive. I look forward to seeing the Center for Student Advocacy and Community work as a catalyst for growing spaces of community and belonging on campus with the collaboration and input from our whole UH community!