Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Carolina Martinez of CAMEO Is Helping To Change Our World

If you’re passionate about something, you’ll always find a way to pursue your dreams and make it work.

As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Carolina Martinez, CEO of CAMEO, California’s statewide micro-business network and leading voice for businesses with one to five employees

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My dad was a doctor and had his own practice in Colombia, and this was my first exposure to entrepreneurship growing up. I also grew up seeing my mom have several side hustles. Fast forward several years, I got married and moved out of my native Bogota and started over in Cali, Colombia. I found a job opportunity where I was working with former guerilla combatants at a nonprofit. These underage combatants came to the organization to learn skills to restart their life and re-enter into civil society. As an engineer who is also passionate about entrepreneurship, I thought the position would be a perfect fit, so I applied and got the job. The position was incredibly impactful for my…