Maria Martinez, an Advertising and PR major is originally from Oakland, California. As a youngester she moved to Texas with her family and her next stop was New York where she enrolled in the Advertsing and PR Program of the
Media & Communications Art Department at City College. 

Maria chose the Program because communication is a universal and powerfull skill which transcends organizations and companies and continents and messages. Imparting a message effectively to one's audience whoever they may be is what appeals to her about the Program and the profession she has chosen.

Maria graduated in 2007 and proved to be a dynamic student and mentor, winning two awards in her final semester. The PR Society of America, New York Chapter (PRSA-NY), honored her with two top awards, the 2007 Philip Dorf Memorial Scholarship and a PRSA-NY Recognition Award.

The former, which includes a $1,000 stipend, is for mentoring and has been awarded since 1995 to honor the late Philip Dorf, a New York PR executive who was a committed mentor to public relations students and professionals alike.

Maria's Recognition Award, which includes a $500 scholarship, was for her impressive leadership of the PRSSA chapter at CCNY including the Building Bridges student-alumni event which brought distinguished alums of the Program to City College to speak to students and also served as a major networking occasion.
Maria credits Lynn Appelbaum, the director of the Advertising and Public Relations Program, for the success in her studies and for encouraging her to participate in extra curricular activities such as the PRSSA-CCNY Chapter, where she was the 2006-2007 President.  

Maria has recently interned at Scholastic, Inc and is working at Converse and at an online radio station, Diskull.com where she assists in developing press kits, press releases, project development and promotions.

Maria hopes to pursue further academic studies in the future and to increase her professional skills and experience within the industry in New York City.