Alumni Changemaker: Dorene Martinez

Dorene Martinez embodies the values of focus, management and responsibility. After receiving her BA with honors from University of California and her MA in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, Dorene began her journey to change the role finance plays in making a positive impact in society.

As an Investment Officer for Emerging Managers for the New York City Comptroller’s Office Bureau of Asset Management, she identified and supported fund managers that incorporated diversity and inclusion into their own business models. This offered Minority and Women owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) fund managers a chance to develop and succeed, and in turn further supported the investment into other small and medium-sized enterprises serving historically underrepresented communities.

Shortly thereafter, while working in Transaction Banking at Deutsche Bank, she went on to participate in both the Group Study Exchange (GSE) program in Tasmania, Australia through Rotary International, and a Business Exchange to Fort Portal, Uganda. The goal of the GSE program was to facilitate the exchange of ideas, both cultural and vocational, amongst businesspeople and professionals early in their career. While her role in Uganda was to help build out the MBA offered through Mountains of the Moon University as well as, capacitate their staff to build partnerships and establish funding sources. As she continued to build expertise in Trade Finance and Cash Management Sales at Deutsche Bank, she began to become more interested in the role as catalyst that Banks and Banking can play on the path to a more sustainable economy.

“We can each do more. Identify what it is for you as an individual, as a company, as an organization and then act.”

She went on to offer her skillset to BNP Paribas, a bank whose company purpose is to contribute to a responsible and sustainable economy by financing and advising clients according to the highest ethical standards. At BNP Paribas she worked and then later managed a team in both Cash Management and Trade Finance Sales. She is currently the Head of Hispanic Latin America, Trade & Treasury Solutions for BNP Paribas and the co-focal point for all of the Americas for Sustainable Trade Finance. In this position she is not only handling the complexities that naturally occur when doing business across borders and cultures, but is also analyzing regulations and trends, and forming strategies that address an ever changing market.

Dorene J. Martinez is also a “Conduct Ambassador” at her Bank and an advocate for diversity and Inclusion. She recently signed on to the “JamaisSansElles” (never without her) charter underscoring her and the Bank’s commitment to gender diversity. A former board member of Public Policy and International Affairs, she is cultivating a more diverse and equitable environment at her institution and in society.

Thank you, Dorene for being a leader in the development of sustainable finance. As more corporations and investors incorporate into their business models and good governance, social and environmental targets to make a positive impact, we become a more diverse and prosperous world. By managing and motivating change that considers the greater good, you reveal to each of us the impact and opportunity available when we govern our choices and assets responsibly.

Read more Changemaker profiles here!