Michaela Martin

First 5 Orange County
Irvine, California

Michaela was born and raised in rural Oregon. Despite dropping out of high school and later becoming a single mother, Michaela graduated from Oregon State University with a B.S. in Speech Communication and a minor in Psychology. She further persisted and holds a Juris Doctor from the University of La Verne. Michaela is passionate about the economic and educational advancement of families and continues advocating to foster pathways of success for others. Michaela’s experience has included serving as a Student Parent Advisor with Ascend at the Aspen Institute, and sitting on the Family Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Her policy efforts have included Oregon Senate Bill 564 — the first of its kind to require colleges and universities to collect and report on the enrollment and graduation rates of student parents.

Stories featuring Michaela Martin

Graphic featuring a photo of Michaela Martin, Yolanda Johnson-Peterkin, Ariel Ventura-Lazo, and Dr. Daria Willis.
An episode of firsts! Our first live episode recorded at the inaugural Ascend Parent Advisor Convening in Aspen, CO in front of an audience of student...
Aspen Postsecondary Success for ParentsOctober 27, 2023
Group photo of Ascend Parent Advisors standing outside in Aspen, Colorado with their arms outstretched upward.
Snapshots from the 2023 Ascend Parent Advisor Convening in Aspen, Colorado.
Aspen Postsecondary Success for ParentsOctober 2, 2023
More than half of the nearly 4 million student parents in the U.S. are students of color, with Black, Native, and Latino students among the most likel...
Aspen Postsecondary Success for ParentsSeptember 29, 2022
Michaela Martin was born and raised in rural Oregon. Michaela is passionate about the economic and educational advancement of families and continues a...
Aspen Postsecondary Success for ParentsMarch 8, 2021
Engaging the ideas, perspectives, and expertise of students who are parents is critical to co-creating authentic solutions at the local, state, and na...
BlogJuly 13, 2020
The Aspen Postsecondary Success for Parents (PSP) Initiative is a partnership with Imaginable Futures and the ECMC Foundation to raise awareness about...
Aspen Postsecondary Success for ParentsJuly 13, 2020
In the fall of 2019, I began my first year of law school as a single mother in a new state living in hotels with my son. Now, we are stuck at home hid...
BlogJune 2, 2020

Convenings Featuring Michaela Martin

Postsecondary education and employment pathways are core components of the two-generation (2Gen) approach. This commitment to educational success and economic security is of the utmost importance to single mothers pursuing a postsecondary degree or...
ConveningNovember 16, 2020