Trista Martinson

Trista is a mother, a wife, a veteran, and a vocal and effective advocate. Over her career, she has tirelessly spoken out for important issues like affordable housing, homelessness, mental health, disability services, autism research, urban agriculture, climate, and veterans services.

Trista joined the United States Navy at 17, and served on active duty for 16 years. She is one of only a handful who have served in three branches of the service, both as an enlisted person and as an officer the Navy-Marine Corps and the Army National Guard. Trista often served as the only or first woman in each of her duty assignments and was the first woman to serve as Commander of the 34th Military Police Company.

After her military service, Trista became a community organizer and policy leader for Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, where she developed government relationships as an advocate for affordable housing. During this time she helped found the Homes for All Coalition, working to increase funding for the entire housing continuum.

At the same time, Trista also founded the Women Veterans Initiative, a nonprofit organization that advocates to build equity in services and to develop innovative programs to address the needs of Women Veterans. She was integral in passing legislation for the Women Veterans license plate and in declaring October to be Veterans Voices Month. She has spoken across the country and internationally about issues impacting the veteran community, and is a contributing author to the Attorney’s Guide to Defending Veterans In Criminal Court. She has served as a Ramsey County Veterans Court Advocate and is frequently involved in assisting veterans to access services and connect with resources throughout the community.

Trista most recently worked for Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans as a strategic partnership consultant and previously worked for the Minnesota Humanities Center as a Veterans' Voices program director.

Together Trista and her husband Hector have 5 sons: Taavo, 21; Hunter, 19; Kaelen, 16 Soren, 10; and Aren, 8. They live in the Payne/Phalen neighborhood.