Cristian Martinez was born and raised in Southern California. A first-generation college student, he graduated from Humboldt State University with a BA in English, and received a Master of Science in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. Cristian is focused on community service – he has worked as an elementary school teacher and as a professor on Climate Justice, Healing Justice, and Arts. Cristian’s work also includes social justice writing, highlighting injustices that dominant cultures of society tend to overlook. He is a native Spanish speaker who is motivated to support his community and help ameliorate the inequities within bureaucratic systems.