Tampa Republic

From  March 11, 2023 post. 

The City of Tampa is proud to have amazing women leaders! 

Melisa Martinez has served our community for over 17 years, working in the male-dominated construction industry. Today she serves as our Urban Development Project Coordinator for the CRA; providing project coordination services for Downtown, Tampa Heights, Riverfront, Central Park, and Channel Districts. 

Born in Venezuela, she arrived in Miami when she was 14 years old and has been a Tampa resident for the past 20 years. Melisa is passionate about building relationships between our local government and the Hispanic community. She has served on the Mayor's Hispanic Heritage Committee, the Mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Hispanic Advisory Council.

To better represent women in the construction field, Melisa also joined the National Association of Women in Construction, and in 2022 she was a guest at Girls Who Build, on the “About Us” podcast with Keila Lopez. She talked about the challenges of being Hispanic and a woman working in an all-male construction industry and how she was thankful to pioneer women like her mother, grandmother, and others she met along the way that inspired her to excel in the field. 

Melisa continues to work to improve opportunities for Hispanic women, and others.

This year, Melisa is receiving a Matilda Award at the Latinos Unidos Luncheon for her extraordinary contributions to the betterment of Hillsborough County’s Hispanic community. Those interested in attending the Latinos Unidos Luncheon on May 3rd at Armature Works can purchase tickets at: https://www.tampa.gov/hispanic.../latinos-unidos-luncheon

Thank you Melisa for all you do to serve our community and for inspiring the next generation of women leaders!

Original source can be found here.