Staff Member Spotlight: Destiny Martinez

Alongside our amazing volunteers across the country, End Overdose is made up of a small staff team that makes the big things you see at events and in the community happen. We want to give credit where it’s due to our team, so we’re excited to continue our staff member spotlight with our fulfillment leader: Destiny Martinez!

If you've ever picked up an End Overdose kit at a festival or had an End Overdose kit sent to your door, it was packed and shipped by Destiny in our sprawling, naloxone-covered warehouse. She's an irreplaceable part of our team who makes our resource distribution online and in-person possible. We truly couldn't accomplish what we do without her. Read on below for a conversation with Destiny about her background and work at End Overdose!

Can you tell us about your personal story? What inspired you to join the End Overdose team? I grew up in a big household being the eldest of 7 kids. Of course I reached that peak in age where I was rebellious, just wanting to be out with the cool people drinking and experimenting what everyone around me was intaking. I had to grow up very fast after that and had no sense of direction, just trying to survive. Life was a huge rollercoaster from the ages of 17 to 21. I reconnected with my first love from when we were 14 years old and we had our son Daniel in 2019.

Seeing Daniel’s dad struggle with addiction was the first time I had to really start thinking clearer. It became very real, very fast. His brother — AJ, who’s now our Director of Community Engagement — was the one who introduced us to End Overdose. Watching that full-circle moment was powerful and inspiring. I joined because the mission is personal and was excited to be apart of helping others.

How has your role grown and evolved as End Overdose has scaled up? When I started, we were much smaller — fewer orders, smaller environment. As we’ve grown, I’ve had to level up how I run the warehouse, build more systems, and keep up with demand. I work solo so it’s definitely been a challenge, but also something I’m really proud of. I seriously appreciate our volunteers so much whenever they take the time to come by and help out. I've made great connects with most of them and I’ll forever hold them in my heart.

What lessons have you learned as our fulfillment leader? Time management is everything when you’re running fulfillment on your own. I’ve learned how to stay organized, keep calm under pressure, and never lose sight of the impact we’re making — every kit going out could save a life. “My hands look like this so no one else has to die” What’s one of your favorite memories working here? Our first year at EDC stands out for me — it was my first time rapid training, and the response was so heartfelt. So many people came up to thank us, share personal stories, and tell us how much this work means. It was a powerful reminder of why we do what we do and I’ll forever be so grateful to be apart of this movement.

What do you see for the future of End Overdose? It’s honestly so amazing to see how far we’ve come in just three years. End Overdose is expanding fast, and the future looks limitless.