Serving the underserved. Tireless Tri-Cities community advocate honored with MLK Spirit Award

Martin Valadez stumbles while trying to name each community board he’s given his time to.

But there’s just too many.

In the 16 years he’s lived in the Tri-Cities, he’s already given more than a lifetime of service to his community.

That’s why Valadez, 56, is being awarded the 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Award, presented by Columbia Basin College in Pasco.

Valadez told the Tri-Cities Herald it was “an honor and humbling” to be associated with the iconic civil rights activist.

“The contributions that I’ve made to the community is something I’m very proud of. I do all I can to help those in need, those that are underserved, those that have been historically marginalized,” he said.

“I want to make sure that people’s race, immigration status, ZIP code or the resources that they have, do not deter or determine their life outcomes or health.”

Each year, CBC honors a community member who shows commitment to equality and social justice, and whose contributions to society reflect the spirit, philosophy and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Valadez was nominated this year by CBC President Rebekah Woods, Heritage University President Andrew Sund, CBC’s CTE Dean Jesus Mota and state Sen. Nikki Torres.

He was selected for his outreach to the Hispanic community, for the countless hours served on community boards and for his dedication toward student equity.

“Martin has been a leader in the Tri-Cities, personally investing his time and talents for the betterment of our community,” Woods said in a statement to the Herald.

“The diversity of his involvement and impact is vast. There is no need too small nor too big that does not warrant his attention. He is a talented convener connecting people and resources, developing programs and groups to meet the needs in the community. Martin’s positive impact reaches across the community.”

Because of a prior commitment, Valadez will not be present Monday to accept his award at the annual Martin Luther King Bell-Ringing Ceremony on campus. But he has recorded a special speech for those who attend.

This will be the first in-person bell-ringing ceremony since the start of the COVID pandemic.

Community involvement

Valadez is the regional director of Heritage University’s Tri-Cities campus, located at CBC.

He’s also served as president and interim executive director of the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a professor of histories and cultural studies at several colleges including Columbia Basin College and Montclair State University, CEO of the Columbia Basin College Foundation, and in several leadership roles with Tri-Cities Community Health.

He’s also currently serving a four-year term on the nine-member Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. Appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee, the board advocates and coordinates the state’s 34 public community and technical colleges.

He also chairs the Mid-Columbia Libraries board of trustees. In the past, he’s been involved with the Visit Tri-Cities board and the Tri-City Herald editorial board as a community representative, among other roles.

Valadez is the second Hispanic to be awarded the distinction; the first was Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr., who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

As COVID vaccines were rolling out, Valadez worked with the Hispanic Chamber to host clinics that helped the most immune-compromised community members, including elders in the Latino community.

“We were doing two a week, and now we’re down to one,” Valadez said. “My goal had been to get to the point that in Benton and Franklin counties 70% were vaccinated. We’re not quite there yet — we’re at 60% — but the work continues.”

He also made sure they hosted clinics on the weekend, too, so that working families had the chance to get the full inoculation.

“We had days where we did 130 vaccines. The weekends, we’d do over 200 vaccines because those are the days where they were accessible,” he said.

Dedicated to education

Valadez grew up in a working class neighborhood of South-Central Los Angeles.

He lovingly refers to his parents’ two-bedroom home as an “immigrants household,” since it was always filled with dozens of family members or other close friends immigrating to the U.S.

“’De la puerta, todo es una cama’ — From the door in, everything is a bed,” he said.

His father worked as a musician and his mother worked in sweatshops. From a young age, Valadez said, he was always surrounded by music, close family and his culture.

But what drove his love for education?

“I think part of it is that, not only do I love education and learning, I always wanted to make my mom proud,” said Valadez, a first-generation college student.

He also quickly saw the benefits of a post-secondary education: Developing social and professional skills, lifting yourself out of poverty, growing a love for certain subjects.

He attended UCLA from 1985 to 1990, and earned a bachelor’s in economics. He started out studying international business, but developed a passion for history by the time he graduated.

At Stanford, Valadez studied economic history, Latin American history, and race and ethnicity. He studied the history of immigration and its effects on economics and labor.

After bouncing between the East and West coasts, Valadez found a teaching job at CBC. He built eight new cultural studies classes during his first two years in the Tri-Cities, including the college’s first African-American histories class.

He went on to serve as the college’s vice president for diversity and outreach.

Valadez lives in Pasco with his wife, Tanya Bowers, and their 8-year-old son, George.

MLK Jr. Day of Service

There are a number of community service projects that will take place in the Tr-Cities on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

• The Tri-Cities Diversity and Inclusion Council will distribute free food and essential items to those in need at Gesa Stadium, at 6200 Burden Boulevard in Pasco. The event will take place 10 a.m. to noon. More than 70 volunteers are expected to show up.

• The Psi Nu Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority will collect new socks at the commons area at Columbia Center mall at 1321 N. Columbia Center Boulevard in Kennewick. Their goal is to collect 500 pairs for men, women and children. All donations will be distributed to agencies providing homeless resources.