Martha has been the Executive Director of the Coalition for Justice since 1996 and is responsible for overseeing and coordinating CJM programs, to apply the mission of the organization, to promote the work of the Coalition to increase its membership, and to raise consciousness about the realities of living and working conditions on the female and male maquiladora workers on the Mexican border by attending speaking engagements. 

Martha, originally from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, worked for 20 years in border maquiladoras, while at the same time studied law, at Estudios Universitarios in Monterrey, Mexico. This enabled her to defend the rights of her fellow workers, must of them women, but most importantly, to empower workers to defend their own rights. Since she came on as Executive Director, the membership and visibility of the CJM has increased dramatically.  In 1997, she wrote a Manual on the Mexican Federal Labor Law, using popular language and graphics to educate workers about their rights and leadership development. 

She was the leader in the Nuevo Laredo Sony Movement in 1994, were more than a thousand female workers were on wildcat strike trying to form and independent union to improve their working and living conditions.  This movement ultimately became one of the first cases of violations of workplace rights to be brought before the NAO (National Administrative Office of the US Labor Department).  Martha travels throughout the world to provide testimony about the devastating effects on the female and male workers in free trade communities. She establishes links amongst workers’ organizations internationally to educate and raise consciousness about the real impact of NAFTA and the global economy.