Attributing much of her success to her passion for politics and her desire to help others, Margaret L. Martin has been involved in the political realm since the age of 18. Knowing her worth and determined to make a difference, she joined Strayer College, now known as Strayer University, where she earned an associate degree before obtaining her first position in the field. Starting out as a caseworker in the office of Sen. Harrison A. Williams of New Jersey, she was notably the first African American woman to serve in the office. In 2002, she joined the New Jersey Democratic State Committee as the operations director, going on to achieve the position of chief operating officer for the committee in 2013. In her current role, Ms. Martin is responsible for keeping the organization on track in regard to their mission, values and vision as an affiliate of the Democratic Party.
Over the course of her career, Ms. Martin has also been involved in a number of other professional organizations. Notably, she has previously been affiliated with the Democratic Party of Arkansas where she spent time as the vice chair and chair of the Pulaski County Democratic Party, which has more than 200 members. She was the first African American in the history of the Arkansas Democratic Party to serve in both of those roles. Currently active with the Mercer County Democratic Committee, Ms. Martin maintains professional affiliation with a number of other professional organizations in order to remain up to date with developments in her field. These include the National Congress of Black Women, the National Urban League and the New Jersey Federation of Democratic Women.
Having accomplished much over the course of her career, Ms. Martin has been the recipient of a number of professional honors and accolades throughout the years. She has been recognized as a trailblazer in the field of politics on both a local and national level and has been featured in a variety of professional publications, including Who’s Who Among American Black Elected Officials and Who’s Who Among Black Women. In 2014, the New Jersey Federation of Democratic Women presented her with the Peg Roberts Award for her years of excellence. Above these recognitions, Ms. Martin considers the absolute highlight of her career to be the opportunities she has had to mentor and advise young professionals and then getting to see them go on and excel in their careers.
Ms. Martin feels very strongly that a person’s level of education is not an indicator of their intelligence, noting that what is truly important is a person’s willingness to learn. Throughout her career, learning has gone hand in hand with everything she has done as she has sought to help and be of service to her community. She is very active in her local community and donates money to several community organizations and charities. Now in her 80s, Ms. Martin is the proud mother of two sons and two daughters and is a doting grandmother to nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Her goal for the future is to keep moving forward in her career for as long as she is physically able.
