leadership
Dr. Kareema Martinez, Ed.D., MBA, LSS
Dr. Martinez is the founder of Rise Strong Consulting Institute — a people-driven performance consulting firm built on the belief that sustainable organizational results require both operational excellence and adequate human capacity to sustain them.
Before founding Rise Strong, Dr. Martinez led educational facilities for preschool and school-age students across the Carolinas. She also led school start-up initiatives and served on a school board to guide key operational and business decisions.
Prior to her career in education, Dr. Martinez spent nearly a decade in the corporate sector, where she served as a Process Control Auditor — auditing organizational units for risk, enforcing regulatory compliance, and designing streamlined processes using the Lean Six Sigma methodology. It was here that the framework for The RISE Process℠ was first forged.
Also, before founding Rise Strong, Dr. Martinez studied natural medicine through a lens of proactively preserving and improving mental and physical health during times of hardship and challenge. Her study of natural medicine led to her obtaining a certification in Herbalism.
This cross-sector background — operational rigor from corporate process improvement, deep human insight from over a decade in education leadership — is what makes the Rise Strong approach genuinely different. Dr. Martinez doesn't just understand organizational performance frameworks. She has lived the challenges her clients face, from hiring and culture to systems and compliance, from staff burnout to community engagement.
Rise Strong was built to offer schools and organizations the kind of consulting support she always wished had been available: structured, evidence-based, human-centered, and delivered by someone who truly understands the work.