{"id":460119,"date":"2026-09-11T03:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460119\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T03:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:58:13","slug":"2026-change-maker-honoree-steve-martinez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460119\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Change Maker honoree: Steve Martinez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Sacramento Bee and Nehemiah Leaders Programs are celebrating this year’s 60 Change Makers. Join them at our gala at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the Grand Sheraton in downtown Sacramento. Buy tickets at sacramentochangemakers.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Steve Martinez began his career in education in 1998 as a teacher in Mendota Unified, a rural district west of Fresno, and became interested in how school leadership could shape the conditions around teachers and students.<\/p>\n

Martinez had been drawn to Twin Rivers by what he saw as underserved communities that needed people to believe improvement was possible. When he arrived, he found a district worn down by the failed promises to deliver the sense of shared purpose people had hoped for.<\/p>\n

What he noticed, though, was not only exhaustion. There was still hope that the district could function differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was tired of being tired. When I came in, it was just the right time for someone from outside to see the potential within the district, within the community,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone wanted Twin Rivers to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

He focused on building a shared purpose around students, the community and the possibility of collective change. In 2013-14, Twin Rivers\u2019 graduation rate was roughly 76%. In recent public data, the district\u2019s graduation rate for 2025 was about 92%.<\/p>\n

Martinez pointed to the district\u2019s dual enrollment as another example of how Twin Rivers tried to build students\u2019 belief that college was possible for them. Through the program, students have the opportunity to earn a degree before high school graduation.<\/p>\n

\"Dr. Dr. Steven Martinez, former superintendent of the Twin Rivers Unified School District, poses for a portrait after being recognized as one of this year’s Change Makers on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Ultimately, Martinez said three things made the transformation possible: a shared purpose centered on students, stronger systems to support classrooms, and investment in people so those closest to the work could help lead the district forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur kids, our children in this community deserve the best,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone should be leaning forward to ensure that they have the best opportunities, the best facilities to reach their dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Chaewon Chung<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Chaewon Chung is an education reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She has previously covered climate and environmental issues, focusing on energy and water. Before joining The Bee, she worked as a climate and environment reporter at the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sacramento Bee and Nehemiah Leaders Programs are celebrating this year’s 60 Change Makers. Join them at our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-460119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}