The American Red Cross has named Jorge Martinez as chief executive officer of the Greater Pennsylvania Region. Martinez served as interim CEO of the 61-county region following the retirement of Patricia Waldinger in September 2022.

Martinez comes to the Greater Pennsylvania Region from the Northern Ohio Region of the American Red Cross, where he has served as chief operating officer since 2017.

Before joining the Red Cross, he retired as a commander in the United States Coast Guard. During his 23 years of service, Martinez served as sea-going officer - including having command at seas, a resource manager and a civil engineer.

Martinez graduated from Wallenpaupack Area High School in Hawley, and holds a B.S. in mathematics from the United States Coast Guard Academy and an M.S. in civil engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

“Being part of an organization with such a noble history of delivering care, compassion and hope is a true honor and privilege. Together with our selfless volunteers, dedicated employees and civic-minded partners, I look forward to expanding the reach of the Red Cross … working to strengthen our existing partnerships and building new ones to best support our wonderful communities,” said Martinez.

As chief executive officer, Martinez will be based in Pittsburgh where he will also fulfill the duties of executive director for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter, the headquarters of the Greater Pennsylvania Region. Martinez will oversee all facets of Red Cross service delivery to support the nearly 9 million people who live in the region.

During fiscal year 22, those services included:

• Providing over 2,700 families with immediate emergency assistance including temporary housing, food and clothing, comfort, and care after more than 1,700 home fires & other disasters;

• Making nearly 3,000 households safer through the installation of 6,800 free smoke alarms as part of the Home Fire Campaign;

• Teaching 76,000 people lifesaving Health & Safety skills such as CPR and First Aid;

• Providing 8,100 services to support members of the military, veterans, and their families; and collecting 110,000 lifesaving blood donations from volunteer donors.