Itzel Martinez
Software Engineer, Pandora
Founder, Latinas Engineering Leadership Program
A graduate from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree
in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Itzel Martinez had
three important moments in her life that helped to lead her to
pursue her career. In high school, she attended a Math and Science
magnet school where she was exposed to engineering and planted the seed
of pursuing engineering, but it was not until she began college at UC
Berkeley, that she was exposed to the career that would change her life
forever - Computer Science (CS).
“When I went off to college I was actually declared as a Bioengineering
major and was looking for an extra class to meet my unit requirements for
my first semester,” she shares. “A college counselor at the Cesar Chavez
building at Berkeley recommended that I should take an introductory course
to Computer Science because he said it was important to be exposed to this
field that was very popular in the Bay area, and so I did. My first exposure
to Computer Science (CS) was through an introductory course that I took
my first semester called, “The Beauty and Joy of Computing,” which was
taught by the most enthusiastic professor I have ever met - Dan Garcia.”
This intro class opened her eyes to the limitless job opportunities in
computer science, an industry she looked forward to being a part of - Technology,
Education, Media, Health Care, Travel, and Finance.
“By learning coding skills, I wouldn’t have to stay in one industry
throughout my professional career because technology is everywhere, and
that was a very important reason for deciding to pursue Computer Science,”
she shares.
For Martinez, her experiences and roots have shaped the person she is.
At the age of seven, in 2002, her family decided to move to the United States
in search of a better life and educational opportunities for their children. At
nine-years-old, her parents separated, which left her mom to raise three
kids on her own.
“Life as an immigrant kid without my family around, not being able to
speak English, and living in a single-parent household within a dangerous
community taught me to figure things out on my own at a very young age,”
she shares. “At a very young age, my mother instilled in me the value of
education, and even though my grandma never learned how to read and my
mom only graduated from middle school, I knew that the only way to help
out my family was by pursuing an education and so graduating from college
became my dream. I didn’t really think of my future beyond graduating
college because I didn’t know what lied ahead but the values I learned
growing up have never left me.”
One of Martinez’s greatest accomplishments was being part of the team
who developed the features to transition Soundcloud’s advertisement
business over to Pandora. Another accomplishment she is very proud of is
to participate in the Pandora Women in Tech Summit a year after she started
working at the company.
“It is really important to believe in yourself,” she shares. “There are two
types of confidence, the first is confidence in your communication skills, and
the second is technical confidence, which is how confident you are in your
ability to figure out a technical or scientific problem. It is very important that
Itzel Martinez.
you practice building your technical confidence because once you know how
to navigate and explain a technical problem, it will be easier to share your
ideas in meetings.”
Martinez is a member of the Advisory Committees for Code.org and
FabFems - an initiative that aims to expose more girls to role models in
STEM. She also serves as a Tech Advisor to the Hispanic Heritage Foundation
and is a Code2040 Alum, Latino Board Leadership Academy Fellow, and a
2019 Westly Prize Winner.
The Latinas Engineering Leadership Program has been recognized
by the Westly Foundation, which awards a $40,000 prize once a year
to three early-stage, young social innovators in California with novel solutions
to community challenges. She also co-created a YouTube Channel
(danteanditzel) where she shares her experience working in the tech
industry as well as professional development advice (careers in tech,
resume tips, what to expect during an internship) for college students
interested in tech.
LS
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