The Children’s Aid Society today announced the hiring of Miriam Martinez, Ph.D., as chief program officer effective August 8, 2016. Martinez will lead our efforts to integrate, align, and refine current programs across all of our divisions. She will develop new strategies to ensure the children we serve are on the path to college and career and, ultimately, independence.

“Dr. Martinez brings decades of experience strengthening the well-being of youth and adults, with a particular expertise in mental health services,” said Phoebe C. Boyer, president and CEO of Children’s Aid. “Her knowledge and experience is especially vital in our work to ensure that all children realize their potential, and she also brings incredible experience harnessing and integrating the efforts of multiple teams within a large organization toward a common mission.”

Prior to joining Children's Aid, Martinez held an array of senior leadership positions at Mount Sinai/St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai Roosevelt’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, including chief of clinical strategy and administrative director for the department, which includes a full range of inpatient, outpatient, addiction, child, and adolescent psychiatric services.

Before returning to New York City, Martinez held a wide range of clinical psychiatric program positions at the University of San Francisco, School of Medicine, where she raised significant funds, and designed and developed community and school-based care for infants, children, and adolescents. Under her leadership at the Family Mosaic Project, incarceration and psychiatric hospitalization rates were significantly reduced for youth with complex and high needs, a true testament to her passion for helping children succeed. 

Martinez has held positions in academia at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York University, Langone Medical Center, and the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. She completed a post-doctorate psychology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. A native New Yorker, she received her bachelor’s degree from Hunter College, City University of New York.

“Since my time at Hunter College, I have been aware of the enormous impact Children's Aid has had on the lives of so many kids and families in New York City," said Martinez. "I look forward to joining this amazing organization and working with the entire Children’s Aid staff who are dedicated to a vision, which I share, that there be no limits to what all young people in our city can achieve." 

The Children’s Aid Society is an independent, nonprofit organization established to serve the children of New York City.  Our mission is to help children in poverty to succeed and thrive. We do this by providing comprehensive supports to children and their families in targeted high-needs New York City neighborhoods. Founded in 1853, it is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving New York’s neediest children. Services are provided in community schools, neighborhood centers, health clinics, and camps. For additional information, please call Anthony Ramos at (212) 949-4938/ (917) 204-8214, email anthonyr@childrensaidsociety.org, or visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.