Marty West - 2023 (Citizen of the Year)
For four decades, Martha “Marty” West has been taking the global problems of our time and crafting local solutions that can be replicated and shared across the country.
Her array of local contributions have led to her being named Davis’ Citizen of the Year.
The Citizen of the Year Award is an annual award given to a Davis resident that has exemplified outstanding service to the community over time.
Nominated by Yolo County Supervisor Lucas Frierichs, District 4 Deputy Sheila Allen and Bill Julian, West has been advocating for the well-being of children and parents in Davis in a variety of ways.
“I am thrilled to be named Citizen of the Year - a big surprise to me,” said West. “I have loved being a part of the Davis community for the past 42 years, working with so many people to make this a better place. I feel deep gratitude to be honored with this award.”
In 1984, West helped to establish Redbud Montessori School on the campus of the Unitarian-Universalist Church. As member (1986-87) and Chair (1988-89) of the City of Davis Childcare Commission, she also helped to create after school daycare in Davis through the city’s Child Development Corporation (CDC).
In addition, she has served as member and Chair of the Holmes Junior High Site Council, as a Board of Education Trustee for the Davis Joint Unified School District for eight years and on the board of Yolo County Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), which works for advocacy for children in the foster care system.
Raising money to support programs and institutions is another part of West’s dedication to her community.
She coordinated parcel tax campaigns to support school funding and school construction. Most recently, Marty was the Co-Chair of the campaign to fund Davis Community Meals & Housing’s new “Paul’s Place” shelter for un-housed residents, which is currently under construction in Central Davis at 1111 H St.
“She has been instrumental in helping bring to reality a local solution to a vexing state and national problem,” said 2013 Brinley Award winner Carri Ziegler. “Through her support of Paul’s Place, she has worked tirelessly to ensure our community has a collaborative response to issues of homelessness. She shows up, she reaches out and has worked with both naysayers and supporters to bring this innovative creative community-based response to Davis.”
Her community work, rooted in her feminist perspective, complemented her professional work at the Martin Luther King Jr. School of Law at UC Davis.
From 2007 to 2012, West taught the undergraduate course, “Gender & Law” in the Women’s Studies program. She was also a Women & Philanthropy Steering Committee member in the UCD Development and Alumni Relations Office from 2017 through 2019. From 2001 to 2007, she was a Campus Mediator. In this role, she co-mediated disputes between faculty members, or faculty and staff, and conducted the dispute resolution process with departments.
Another role she held from 1997 to 2000 and again from 2003 to 2005 was as Faculty Privilege Advisor in which she met with numerous faculty members and advised them on their rights and privileges under UC academic personnel policies. She has also served as an unofficial faculty ombudsperson since 1988, advising over 60 faculty members on a variety of issues.
Her research on the forces maintaining systematic under-representation of women on the University of California faculty challenged the UC administration and was the basis for several legislative hearings convened by then State Senator Jackie Speier.
West has a long list of publications in this area and is the co-author, with Herma Hill Kay, of a leading textbook on Sex-Based Discrimination, which is now in its sixth printing.
At UCD, West has been recognized with numerous awards for her advocacy positions on women and diversity including: The William & Sally Rutter Distinguished Teaching Award, UC Davis Law School, 1997; The Mae Carvell Award for advancement in the Status of Women, Venture Club, Davis, 1999; The Deanna Falge Award for Diversity and Affirmative Action, UC Davis, 1996; and The Ruth E. Anderson Award from Women’s Research and Resources Center and Women’s Studies Program, UC Davis, for outstanding service on behalf of campus women, 1990.
She has also served on the national boards of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) as: member of Committee W, national committee on status of women in the profession (1996-2002) and consultant (2002-2010); Chair of the Legal Defense Fund (1998-2000); and of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) as: member of Legal Advocacy Fund Advisory Committee, (2006-2008); and member of the Advisory Team for Empowerment Training pilot project, Washington, D.C., (2002-2003).
In addition to these achievements, West has spent her free time volunteering to assist Davis residents in completing their income tax forms at the Davis Senior Center; volunteering at the UCD Arboretum, leading a crew that tends a portion of the promenade; serving on the board of the Unitarian Church (2011-2021) as both member and Financial Officer; serving as the Parliamentarian for the Yolo County Democratic Central Committee, educating a new generation of political leaders in organizational integrity; serving as a board member for the Center for Workers’ Rights and as a member of “The Verbs,” raising money for Congressional candidates that believe in facts, science and democracy.
“My favorite thing about the Davis community is its accessibility,” remarked West. “Because it is a relatively small town, if you have an idea or want to see if you can make change, you just start talking to people and then you find support from others. When I needed to find after school childcare for my soon-to-be first grader, I worked with Donita Stromgren, from the city’s Childcare Services Office and Norm Enfield, then principal of West Davis Elementary School.
“We eventually arranged for the Child Development Corporation to begin providing both before and after school childcare at all the elementary schools in Davis. The first pilot program was in the multipurpose room at WDE, where my daughter was in first grade because of Principal Enfield’s support. This is only one example of how people in Davis come together to support each other.”
— From the Davis Enterprise - Rebecca Wasik, Enterprise Staff Writer, December 30, 2023
