Luz Alvarez Martinez grew up in a California farmworker family that worked the fields in Fremont, Gilroy and Santa Rosa. She was an early supporter of the United Farm Workers, and a feminist and environmentalist. In 1986, she co-founded the National Latina Health Organization in Oakland, CA, and served as its Executive Director until 2005. In 1997, she also co-founded SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective. She has also served on the Minority Women's Health Panel of Experts of the National Office of Women's Health (1997-2005), and on the Women's Health Council of the Office of Women's Health of the State of California since 1997. Martinez has four sons and three grandchildren. Since 1993 she has been an Aztec ceremonial dancer.
From the guide to the Luz Alvarez Martinez Papers MS 620., 1978-2007 (ongoing), (Sophia Smith Collection)
