Amanda Martinez

When someone interviewed me last year and asked about my role model, I talked about Julie. I said “she loves giving people hugs and pep talks and she cusses like a sailor. Julie is my role model because I believe that she prioritizes what matters and she follows through on her commitments.”

I had the pleasure of working with Julie at College Possible for two years. I’ll always remember the first time I met her, during my final round interview. She spent the whole time making me feel great about myself and ended it with a hug! Best job interview ever. I soon learned that that’s just Julie: always warm, always everybody’s biggest fan, spreading joy wherever she went.

There are too many stories to just tell one. Every time I saw Julie in the office, she made me smile. She always remembered to ask about my family, she told me to go home if I was staying in the office too late, and she often had bags of candy that she would leave outside her door. Like any Executive Director, Julie had a full schedule. But she made time for you, no matter what. I loved going to lunch with her— both while we worked together and afterward. I would often sit and listen intently like a little kid, soaking up every story, joke, and bit of advice from her. She was simply one of my favorite people.

One of my favorite memories from my time at College Possible was when Julie invited us to her house for a staff dinner. I remember walking in and seeing how her walls were packed with photos, newspaper clippings, art— so full of life and so representative of the warm, wonderful, fascinating woman that Julie was. I loved it. Then we sat down at the table and saw that she had decorated it with candy, paper crowns, and games. Classic Julie, making everyone tap into their little kid side and have some fun. One of our favorite things to laugh with Julie about (she made fun of us and was a great sport when we made fun of her) was the way she would eat with her hands. (In the office, she’d often have something in a brown to-go container that she’d be eating with her hands during meetings.) At the end of that staff dinner, she brought out this big fruit merengue cake thing that she was excited for us to try. I think she had even been talking about it for a couple days back at the office. So of course she started serving everyone, with her bare hands, making a gooey fruity mess all over the table and making everyone belly laugh in the process.

Thank you, Julie, for the belly laughs and the inspiration. I love you.