RICARDO MARTINEZ

ABOUT ME.

Ricardo G. Martinez’ career with the State of California spans 33 years in the Natural Resources, Agriculture, Environmental and Procurement sectors. Most recently, Ricardo served as Acting Chief Procurement Officer for the state of California and Deputy Director for the Procurement Division at the Department of General Services (DGS). Previously, he served as Branch Chief for Statewide Policy, Training and Customer Services at DGS and as Deputy Secretary at the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where he was chief advisor to the Secretary for Environmental Protection on issues related to Mexico, Environmental Justice and Tribal Affairs. He also served as Policy Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger on matters related to Mexico and Latin America for over 5 years.

During his multi-year tenure with DGS as the Deputy Director of the DGS Procurement Division, Ricardo was responsible for driving the planning, direction, and coordination of all functions and activities related to the purchasing of goods and services for the state of California.  He was also responsible for providing guidance and direction to the division on the strategic acquisition of goods and services and updating the policies and procedures used by all state agencies in their purchasing and contracting activities. Ricardo was pivotal in developing procurement solutions,

including statewide contracts, purchasing portals, end-user training and policy interpretation. Under Ricardo’s direction, DGS developed and implemented the Non-Competitively Bid Portal, IT Procurement Modernization, Purchasing Authority Accreditation, On-Line Procurement and Contracting Academy and Environmentally Preferable Purchasing. Ricardo led the negotiations on the State’s 401IT terms and conditions as well as Cloud general and special provisions.

While at the California EPA, Ricardo developed and implemented the

first-ever California-Mexico border environmental program, where he secured close to one billion dollars in funding for environmental infrastructure projects. He also helped create and managed the

California-Mexico Border Relations Council created under AB 3021 (Nuñez).

In his capacity as policy advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger, Ricardo served as an Ambassador to Mexico and Latin America on Climate Change policy. He was responsible for engaging and securing the involvement of several countries in promoting renewable energy projects, use of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel, consideration of forestation and degradation projects and the adoption of California standards to combat the effects of Climate Change. Since 1994, Ricardo has worked on California-Mexico environmental issues, specifically addressing water and air quality issues, acquiring NAFTA financing for environmental infrastructure projects, building relationships at the three levels of government in Mexico, and developing the concept and structure of the Border 2012 Environmental Program. Under Ricardo’s direction, Cal/EPA has been one of few State agencies to sign unprecedented environmental agreements with the Republic of Mexico, Chile and Peru.

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In the community, Ricardo served as the State Representative to the Government Advisory Committee (GAC) to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, and the Good Neighbor Environmental Board (GNEB); two positions appointed by the USEPA Administrator. Ricardo currently volunteers his time as a patient advisor on the Kaiser Patient Advisory Council.

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Ricardo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Animal Biology from California State University, Sacramento and is a Graduate of the California Leadership Institute. Additionally, his work is widely published, and he has been the keynote speaker at several international venues. Ricardo is a seasoned proven leader and coalition builder across many fronts. His many accomplishments have led him to be the recipient of several awards.

On April 1, 2020 Ricardo retired from state service.