Embedded Files
I am available for new consulting projects !
Welcome. Mabrika. Bienvenidos.
Welcome. Mabrika. Bienvenidos.
Él Martinez (they/elle pronouns) is a community organizer, liberatory harm reductionist, youth worker, and consultant based in Worcester, MA. Él is passionate about identity development in youth, public health education, and capacity building through local organizing and mutual aid.
Él’s activism started at age 15, incited by negative experiences as a trans student of color in MA public schools. Since then, their professional endeavors have included legislative advocacy, LGBTQ+ youth programs, grassroots/student organizing, public health, and harm reduction initiatives.
Consulting Services:
Consulting Services:
My consulting jobs have included speaking engagements, panel organization/facilitation, training, workshops, racial justice dialogues, public school and workplace policy audits, and more. My approach to all my work is holistic, comprehensive, and community-oriented as I pull from my experiences in legislative advocacy, LGBTQ+ youth programs, grassroots/student organizing, public health, and harm reduction fields.
As a part of their degree requirements, Él designed and completed a participatory action research project focusing on drug use in the undergraduate population of Clark University. This included data collection through an anonymous survey and interview of university administration. The final paper presents a framework of "Liberatory Harm Reduction" outlining the key elements of the US American harm reduction movement. Click here to read Él’s undergrad thesis.
In collaboration with Youth for Sex Ed and the Healthy Youth Act Coalition, Él has joined in the fight to pass "An Act relative to healthy youth" (S.268/H.544) which will require any MA public school that already teaches sex ed to provide medically accurate, consent-based, LGBTQ+ inclusive sexual health education.
Photo by Daniela Minidis
Lesley University
Lesley University
While attending Lesley University, Él utilized their organizing skills to demand basic human needs from the administration after serious issues with heat, plumbing, and food insecurity affected the student population. Projects included the establishment of a food pantry, a drive for warm clothing/ blankets, a petition with over 2,000 signatures, several sets of student demands, and a protest on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. Read more about the protest here.
Él was a member of GLSEN's National Student Council from 2018 to 2020. In their position on the NSC, they produced student-authored content and traveled across the country to model in campaigns with partners such as Hollister and Morphe. They also acted as a representative for high-profile fundraisers and various media opportunities. Él keeps in contact with their fellow NSC grads to this day.
"Gender X" Legislation
"Gender X" Legislation
At the age of 15, Él became a legislative advocate for what became known as the "Gender X" Bill in the state of Massachusetts. The goal of this bill was to cement “X” as a designation under the sex classification on documents in the state of Massachusetts. After almost 3 years of lobbying inside and outside the legislature, the MA RMV instituted the “X” option in late 2019.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse