Tri-Cities educator, leader appointed to WA state community college board
Martin Valadez was appointed to the state board that oversees community and technical colleges.
Gov. Jay Inslee picked Valadez for the nine-member State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, which coordinates and directs the 34 community and technical colleges in the state.
Valadez has been Heritage University’s Tri-Cities regional director since January 2020. He also has worked at Columbia Basin College, including as the CBC Foundation CEO, vice president for diversity and outreach and a history and intercultural studies instructor.
He’s also active in the Tri-Cities business community, serving as interim executive director of the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and as a Tri-Cities Economic Development Council board member. He’s also been a reader representative on the Tri-City Herald Editorial Board.
“I am looking forward to applying my experience and knowledge in history, intercultural studies, diversity, outreach, and business to advancing the causes of the community and technical college system and each of our colleges,” he said in a news release.
Valadez graduated from UCLA and Stanford University and has earned degrees and certificates from the Mendoza School of Business at the University of Notre Dame, the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
He is replacing retired environmental scientist Wayne Martin from Kennewick. Valadez’s term will end in September 2023.