Marta V. Martínez of Warwick has been named a 2015 Rhode Island Foundation Fellow. The goal of the leadership development program from the Foundation’s Initiative for Nonprofit Excellence (INE) is to energize mid-career executives in the state’s nonprofit sector. 

“The Fellows program has proven to be a powerful and effective vehicle for nonprofit executive directors to self-reflect, reinvigorate and strengthen their leadership skills,” said Jill Pfitzenmayer, INE vice president in a statement. Since 2000, more than 170 nonprofit executives have participated in the program. 

The 18-month program enables nonprofit executive directors to take productive, short-term sabbaticals from their organizations. Fellows design their own curriculum and participate in periodic group meetings to share their challenges, opportunities and progress. Martínez will receive a stipend of up to $10,000 to underwrite their activities and her organization will receive $5,000 grants to compensate it for the time away.

Martínez, founder and director of Rhode Island Latino Arts, will develop her own interest in photography through mentorship and continuing education in order to gain a better understanding of the artists that her organization supports. She will then travel to locations across the country where immigrants have settled, documenting their lives and homes through photography.

“I look forward to acquiring some hands-on skills in photography and to traveling around the United States to witness and capture on camera the immigrant experience of today. By doing this, I believe that the stark contrast of life in a small American town and the stories of immigrants will provide me with powerful images that will bring me closer to my own immigrant experience. I see this Fellows program not as a project, but as something that will help me to move past my own boundaries to make things, and at the same time, to make change,” she said.

Joining Martínez in the Fellows program are Bradley Brockmann of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at The Miriam Hospital, Kathleen Cloutier of the Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, Tricia Jedele of the Conservation Law Foundation and the Rhode Island Advocacy Center, Leslie Gell of Ready to Learn Providence, Kerri Kanelos of Youth Pride; Julius Kolawole of the African Alliance of Rhode Island, Deb Meunier of Fusionworks, Andy Posner of the Capitol Good Fund, Jonny Skye of Rhode Islanders Sponsoring Education, Howie Sneider of The Steel Yard, Jonathan Stone, of Save the Bay, and Raymond Watson, of the Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association.

The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. In 2014, the Foundation awarded $34.8 million in grants to organizations addressing the state’s most pressing issues and needs of diverse communities. Through leadership, fundraising and grantmaking activities, often in partnership with individuals and organizations, the Foundation is helping Rhode Island reach its true potential. For more information visit www.rifoundation.org.