November, 2000

Mother, Computer Programmer . . . and Political Activist
Concerned Women for America - with members in 50 states - is the largest public policy women's organization in the nation. Primarily a women's organization, its issues deal with the family so men are also encouraged to join. Its membership includes women and men of all ages, various church affiliations and multiple political parties. 

A full-time computer programmer at Boston University, the day of Sandi Martinez doesn't end there. Like many other parents, once home, she'll cook supper and whisk three teenagers off to soccer practice or diving lessons. But her day doesn't end with that either.

She is very committed to trying to get the country "back on track." So her day doesn't end till she has fulfilled her duties not only as wife and mother of four but also as State Director for Concerned Women for America. 

CWA is the largest public policy women's organization in the nation - about twice the size of NOW. Its vision is to bring women and like-minded men together, from all walks of life, to restore the family to its traditional purpose and thereby allow each member of the family to realize their God-given potential and be more responsible citizens.

Sandi first heard about CWA in 1986 when she picked up a flyer on her mother's coffee table. She later encountered CWA at an information booth at a Convention Center, left her name and eventually joined. But it wasn't until she found herself in conflict with her local high school after discovering they tried to give her fifteen-year-old daughter birth control pills without her knowledge that she became seriously involved with CWA. 

Sandi says, "This whole situation taught me that the schools had changed a lot and were not the same schools I attended in 1965. They were teaching more than just reading, writing and arithmetic. So I started looking at what was happening with the schools. I became very concerned, so it was just a natural fit and natural timing when I found out about CWA."

Sandi was a prayer chapter leader for a number of years in Chelmsford before she was appointed State Director in 1993. She explains: "Each state is a field office with a Director and a steering committee to help the Director. Then there are prayer chapters across the state consisting of home captains and church liaisons and members. There are over 6000 members but not all are active. 

"As a director I'm supposed to do several things. One is educate the members and citizens of Massachusetts about issues that affect the family. There are key issues that we focus on that get our dander up. Should we see things happening either at the state level or the federal level that would take away our rights as parents for example, we alert our members. 

"The second thing we do is pray. We really believe as a Christian organization and as a Christian nation that without prayer, your action will fail but without your action, your prayers aren't going to be very effective. 

"And then we try to get involved in the legislative process, whether it be lobbying or writing letters. We teach people how they can be an effective lobbyist from their kitchen table. We encourage people to be out there voting, getting educated on all areas, not just abortion, although we are pro life. We also encourage people to check on how legislators vote on other issues that affect the family." 

Another part of Sandi's job is to host guest speakers, seminars and education workshops across the state. "We've done seminars on Education Reform, studying the Ed Reform Act of 1993, taking it apart and taking a long hard look at it. 

"We put on abstinence seminars for teenagers. These have been very well attended and very well received. CWA produced a video called, 'Wait for me' which is very effective. After the video, we bring in speakers and try and cover everything, i.e. . . . if you haven't gotten pregnant, good! Here are the reasons why not to. If you have, here's hope! Or if you had an abortion, here's help for you, too.

"Eventually, I have a vision and a dream and I hope to make it happen within a year or two, to fill up the Worcester Centrum, the Fleet Center and the Springfield Civic Center with teenagers who will hear this message. There are some really good speakers we can bring in such as some of the New England Patriots who speak on abstinence and a couple of professional models from New York." 

Sandi also makes time to travel to Washington to lobby senators and testify both there and on Beacon Hill. "I just went up to lobby Senator Kerry on a new bill being introduced, its called, 'Infant Born Alive Protection Act.' You'll be hearing a lot more about it. Right now we're trying to get senators to sign on as co-sponsors or at least go along with this bill that would protect a baby once it's fully born." She's also testified on Beacon Hill against euthanasia and before the House Oversight Committee when they were investigating how our tax dollars were being spent with the drug-free funds for our schools. 

"Quite frankly, the climate in this state is hostile and it seems to be almost like a hard rock. It's hard to penetrate and get people motivated. When I spoke last night at a meeting, one of the women asked, 'How come nobody is here?' She thought she would get about 300 people and she only got about fifty.  I said, 'Because it's the nature of conservatism not to get involved. You care deeply and you might care very passionately about the issues, but you won't normally get involved until somebody steps on your bunion and it's your child or family member that is involved in a situation.  It's when these things happen that conservatives become activists. And it's unfortunate that it takes something dramatic to propel people to becoming active.'"

Sandi has other irons in the fire as well. She's producing a TV and radio show and trying to get that together. "We've filmed six shows and it's called, 'CWA speaks out on the issues.' They're hour-long shows to be shown on local cable. We had an offer in the spring to do a radio show five minutes, three times a week, free, but I haven't been able to travel the long distance to tape. I just can't do it all!"

When asked how she juggles CWA with her family responsibilities, she laughs, "By the grace of God! I do everything I can to keep my family high on my priority list but all my free time essentially is for the work. It's really hard. I stay up till the wee hours of the morning usually doing my research and responding to emails. I'll answer my phone calls as soon as I get home from work. I try really hard to balance. For instance, I had to skip the Pro-Life walk Sunday to go to my son's soccer game. 

"My husband does put up with a lot and wishes in a way that I would've waited till the kids were grown but I said, 'If I wait till the kids are grown, they'll have no nation left for them.' God called me for this now."

To contact Sandi Martinez and find out more about CWA, you can email her at cwaofma@aol.com or call 978-256-7943