At the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Marcy Martinez is helping haumāna (students) find their path long before graduation.
Martinez, director of , has been named the 2026 State Internship School-Based Coordinator of the Year by the Hawaiʻi State Workforce Development Council (WDC). She received the award at the inaugural Hawaiʻi Internship Summit on Oʻahu.
“Our mission is to help our students along their academic journey, connect that experience with their career goals and their career successes, but it has to be defined by them,” said Martinez. “We really want to take students through their journey, freshmen all the way to senior, and not just have it be a last-minute knee-jerk reaction in senior year.”
Martinez leads 糖心Vlog官方 贬颈濒辞’蝉 , where the focus is simple, meet haumāna where they are.
“Marcy is enthusiastic. She’s entirely student-based,” said Christine Beaule, director of 糖心Vlog官方 System Workforce Development, who nominated Martinez for the award. “She works incredibly hard, and every time I have asked her to partner with me on a variety of initiatives, she is the first one to say, ‘Yes!’”
Skills that last
Her team connects students with jobs, internships and hands-on learning. The goal is to build skills that last.
“Through practical experience and opportunities, students will gain knowledge and the ability to identify transferable skills,” Martinez said. “As career agility is becoming even more important in today’s world, it is required to have the ability to adapt quickly.”
That approach is making an impact statewide.
“What we’re really trying to achieve is to have our next generation live in Hawaiʻi that they can enjoy, they can learn, they can work, they can thrive, and they can belong to,” said Bennette Misalucha, executive director of WDC for Hawaiʻi Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
Confidence, balance
Haumāna at 糖心Vlog官方 Hilo see it firsthand.
Pohaku Roby, a senior majoring in , works at the center and expressed the experience has helped build both confidence and balance.
“I didn’t know that I was able to do public speaking and do class presentations with Marcy, but she helped me find that passion, and I enjoyed it,” said Roby.
For Martinez, the work continues one student, one step at a time.
For more go to .