Appointment of Desireé Martinez as Director of Tribal Relations & NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA

August 12, 2024

Dear Campus Community,

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Desireé Reneé Martinez to the position of Director of Tribal Relations and NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA at Cal Poly Pomona. Her selection is the result of an extensive national search, through which Martinez distinguished herself as a dedicated expert who will strengthen our university’s continued leadership in Tribal engagement and partnerships.

Martinez will serve as our primary liaison and conduit with Native American Tribal Nations, governments and urban American Indian communities to develop and implement a robust Tribal relations program. This includes compliance with the spirit and legal requirements of the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the state CalNAGPRA legislation, as well as strengthening pipelines for students, faculty and staff, and developing programs to serve Tribal partners in our region and educating our own campus community in partnership with the Native American Student Center.

Martinez joins Cal Poly Pomona from Cogstone Resource Management, a cultural resources firm, where she ensured the development and success of cultural resources compliance, Tribal engagement and consultation. She worked with a range of organizations including the CSU and other universities to strengthen relationships between Tribal communities and facilitate care and repatriation of cultural items.

Previously, Martinez served as co-director of the Pimu Catalina Island Archaeology Project; and consultant and project manager for numerous institutions, including the Autry Museum of the American West and the UCLA Fowler Museum.

With a Master of Arts in Anthropology from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, Martinez’s robust educational foundation and active engagement in public programming and pedagogy make her especially well-suited to further grow and develop our Tribal relations program. She reports to Vice President and Chief of Staff, Nicole Hawkes, who also serves as my designee for advancing our campus repatriation efforts in alignment with the commitment of the CSU.

Collaborating with CPP Tribal Liaison, Dr.Sandy Dixon and Vice President Hawkes, Martinez will conduct active consultation with Tribal partners and steward our campus NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA Campus Implementation Plan. She will oversee the annual, systematic, physical campus survey to identify, inventory and report all undocumented Native American human remains and cultural items that may be in the possession of our campus as required by state legislation and the CSU Office of the Chancellor. Updates on these efforts will be provided to the campus routinely, including details on the responsibility that each of us has to an ethical duty of care for any cultural items identified. More information can be found on our campus NAGPRA/CalNAGPRA website.

Please join me in welcoming Desireé Martinez to Cal Poly Pomona.

Sincerely, 

Soraya M. Coley, Ph.D.
President