Wendy Martinez-Marroquin builds bridges between the institutions that hold resources and the communities that need them, and works to make those bridges honest.
As co-founder and executive director of AllThrive Education, Wendy partnered with major California foundations to advance trust-based philanthropic practice, centering grantee voice and well-being over extractive metrics. As lead instructor and business advisor at Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative, she coached entrepreneurs from historically excluded communities, helping them access capital on their own terms while partnering with lending institutions to redesign loan products.
Born in Mexico, Wendy came to the United States at 18 as an undocumented immigrant. Small community organizations threw her a lifeline, and that experience shaped everything that followed. She holds a B.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies from UC Berkeley and is a certified yoga instructor through the Niroga Institute, where she spent seven years bringing mindfulness and somatic practices into youth development and organizational wellness.
Wendy is also a documentary filmmaker whose work has been recognized at international film festivals. When she’s not collaborating with the JEI community, she enjoys rappelling down canyons, exploring caves, and testing the limits of her body through sports and adventure.
Community, interconnectedness and transformation are at the heart of JEI. Which speaks to you most? Why?
Interconnectedness. In a society that teaches us to succeed on our own, interconnectedness is a radical remembering. It reminds us that our well-being is bound to each other’s, that our futures are shared, and that no economy can be just if it is built on the illusion of separation. As an immigrant, I survived because communities held me. As a facilitator, I’ve watched people transform when they finally see that they are not alone. Interconnectedness is the foundation on which community is built and transformation becomes possible.
What are a few things about you that would surprise other people?
- I was the national javelin and discus throwing champion of Mexico in 2002.
- I’ve competed in swimming, basketball, boxing, and powerlifting. My body is my favorite teacher.
- I recently rappelled down a canyon and explored a cave. Next up: snowboarding a volcano and learning to dive.
- I once supervised the legal processing of over 60 international adoptions across multiple countries.
What movements for a just economy, past or present, inspire you?
The cooperative and worker-ownership movement inspires me deeply. I spent six years as a worker-owner at Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative, and I believe that when workers own the conditions of their labor, they reclaim dignity and economic power.
The trust-based philanthropy movement inspires me because it was born from listening. The principles did not come from consultants. They came from nonprofit leaders who named what they needed in their own words. That is how real change is built.
And the farm workers movement, led by Dolores Huerta, is personal to me. As a Mexican immigrant, her fight for dignity and justice for working people is part of my own story. Her courage reminds me that movements are built by ordinary people who refuse to accept things as they are.