Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation

Fellowship Year: 2001

Academic Background: UCLA - Ph.D. - (Dept. of Urban Planning)

Current Position: Assistant Professor , Occidental College

Martha Matsuoka is an Assistant Professor in the Urban and Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College where she teaches courses on environmentalism, environmental justice, community organizing and leadership development. She is an Associate Researcher with the Center for Justice, Tolerance and Community at UC Santa Cruz where her research focuses on regional inequity and the role and strategies of community-based organizations in neighborhood and regional development and planning. Currently, she serves as an evaluator for the Environmental Justice Collaborative, an effort made up of community-based EJ organizations, the Liberty Hill Foundation, and a research team led by Occidental College focused on advancing cumulative impact methods and policies in throughout Los Angeles County. Together with the Liberty Hill Foundation, Martha also facilitates the work of GREEN LA, a citywide coalition of environmental and environmental justice organizations formed to “advance policies and programs that transform L.A. into the cleanest greenest big city in the country.” Prior to returning to graduate school, Martha worked as the Director of the Urban Habitat Program’s Economic Conversion Project. She is a founding Board member of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), an environmental justice organization in San Francisco Bay Area and serves on the advisory committee of CIPHER, the research arm of the Los Angeles Metropolitan AllianceAGENDA. She is a founding member of the East Asia – U.S.- Puerto Rico Women’s Network Against Militarism, a transnational anti-militarist women’s organization. Martha received her Ph.D. in Urban Planning from UCLA, a Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley, and A.B. from Occidental College.

Expertise: Environmental Justice, Architecture & Urban Planning