about me
my name is josh martinez. i love trying to understand systems and the systems that built those systems. i spend a lot of time thinking about how to get there from here. i approach my work through antiracism, social justice, and racial equity.
i spell my name with lowercase letters. you can read about why i do that. i also agree with the reasons shared by john a. powell, danah boyd, and bell hooks.
i grew up in texas and spent most of my life in the south. i graduated from the university of texas with degrees in spanish literature and neurobiology (remnants of a medical career that ended too late to change majors, perhaps). my first jobs were at a coffeeshop, then a restaurant, and later a string of jobs at the university. i once worked in a neuro lab, an engineering library, a gelato shop, and a fancy grocery store all at the same time. come to think of it, that’s a good representation of how my brain works. no matter the organization, i like digging deep into their mission and purpose. i then find ways to articulate those goals into a forward-thinking vision.
i previously worked in public health for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Public Health—Seattle & King County. i’ve also worked in the non-profit sector in grants management, program management, and as a director at a food bank distributor. i started my own consulting firm, Future Emergent, where I help organizations put equity and inclusion values into practice.
some of my past clients and collaborators include the Non-Profit Anti-Racism Coalition, Bellingham Food Bank, the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Solid Ground, the Washington Food Coalition, and more. You can check out a more complete list of my recent engagements.
after a few cross-country moves, i live in the pacific northwest with my husband. i love to write, cook, read, swim, and explore nature. i’m a huge fan of bad jokes and lasagna.
about this site
we can’t wait for the future to arrive before we act. we must be the future we are waiting for. we live in a world that was built to entrench white supremacy into every facet of our lives. only through collective action can we fight to change the world into something better. for my part, i envision ways take radical ideas out of theory and into practice.
be the future is a place where i sketch out ideas for people to work in systems together. My consulting practice Future Emergent is where I get to co-create those ideas with my partners, colleagues, and co-conspirators.
I live and work on the unceded territories of Coast Salish people who have lived here since time immemorial. I’m on the land of the dxʷdəwʔabš or Duwamish nation. I pay rent to acknowledge this theft of their sovereign land. Wherever you are, I encourage you to learn more about the land you’re on and its history. Don’t end your journey at learning, though! To learn more about Indigenous nations in some parts of the world, you can visit Native Land. In all things, we must strive to build respect and cooperation with the Indigenous Nations that share the land with us to this day.
josh [at] bethefuture.space