Every year, Community Foundation Boulder County presents two Community Leadership awards: the Pat-on-the-Back Award and the Stan Black Award. Each honoree will receive $1K to be directed to a Boulder County nonprofit(s) of their choice. Today, the foundation announced Marta Loachamin as the recipient of its 2018 Stan Black Award.
The Stan Black Award honors one of the founders of the Community Foundation. Now retired, Stan continues to actively participant in a number of causes – both in Boulder County and overseas. In addition to support from individual donors, sponsors of the award – which honors individuals who have shown a lifetime commitment to offering volunteer time, treasure, and talent in serving Boulder County nonprofits – include the law firm of Hutchinson, Black & Cook.
Marta’s nomination for this year’s award describes her as someone who, like Stan, is “an amazing community asset with a diverse skills set” that she freely shares with her community. Indeed, as a Boulder County bilingual, bicultural REALTOR® with ERA Tradewind Real Estate, LLC, Marta has long lent her voice, experience, and expertise to various foundation initiatives – including regular contributions to our blog – and other community programs and activities.
Marta is active with the Hispanic Wealth Project in collaboration with the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP); through NAHREP, she’s held numerous presentations and workshops, facilitated dialogues, and created a committee to promote closer collaboration with organizations like Junior Achievement. “For me, there’s a connection between youth literacy, building stronger families, and having success later on in life,” says Marta. “It’s so important for us to provide positive role models. For kids, you need to see it to be it.”
Per Carmen Ramirez, a member of the Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees, “Marta is able to assist both Spanish and English speakers, which is key to overcoming language barriers that can prevent people from developing skills, or accessing resources.” Specifically, Marta teaches homeownership classes to adults, as well as business classes for young people in classrooms along the Front Range through her affiliation with NAHREP and Junior Achievement.
Marta has also volunteered for the City of Longmont’s Resiliency for All initiative and Longmont StartUp Week, speaking about business to youths and adults, and “mentoring others to be resilient and develop strategic career goals.” Additionally, she serves on the board of Longmont United Hospital, seeking to help ensure equity in a community hospital setting that reflects and represents the community it serves.
Continues Carmen, “Marta is engaged in numerous projects that help people develop the capacity to improve their own quality of life – whether by educating people on homeownership, helping someone to strategize their next career move, or addressing social justices in our community.
“Marta’s strength and compassion are gifts to our community.”
Responds Marta, “The practice of giving back to my community is rooted in a sense of personal responsibility. My background is so varied across so many different types of sectors and walks of life, including the immigrant experience – and I understand how the worlds of finance and investments and property ownership can really change a family’s life. That’s why I’m compelled to share what I know with people who don’t have related experience or education.”
Thank you and congratulations, Marta!