Diane Martin is a NANA Shareholder and an Administrative Coordinator for Camp Services here at NMS.
Diane grew up in Kotzebue, Alaska. She spent her summers at fish camp with her Grandma and Tada (Art Sr and Marie Fields). Her high school days involved activities like Battle of the Books, cheerleading, and student government. Growing up in a small town with a large family meant Diane had several role models to guide her. Her days in Kotzebue exemplified the old saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
After graduating, Diane moved to Colorado for school. She returned to Kotzebue, where she worked at the Manilliaq Association Health Clinics. It was there that she took an interest in optometry.
Diane moved to Oregon to pursue an optometry degree, but fate had other plans. Diane’s cousin in Anchorage had a good friend from Alaska who was living in Olympia, Washington about 3 hours from where she lived (also known as Diane’s future husband – Chris Martin). Chris saw a picture of Diane at her cousin’s house long before he met her. Upon seeing it, he announced, “I’m going to marry that woman one day.” It took Diane’s cousin a year before he set them up, and they would, in fact, go on to marry.
Diane and Chris moved back to Alaska and started their family. They have two sons, Roman and Rhett.
In April 2016, Diane applied for a position at NMS. She walked into VP of Camp Services, Jason Carlson’s office, which was adorned in all things New England Patriots – and one football that wasn’t fully inflated. After teasing Jason about this homage to deflate-gate, Diane left thinking she might have blown the interview. The next day she was offered the job. She’s now been with NMS for over seven years.
As the Administrative Coordinator for Camp Services, Diane is the go-to point of contact for all the camp employees regarding payroll, Time Clock Plus, and more. She loves working with our team and interacting with our clients. Previously, Diane served as the Administrative Assistant to Eric Fox who was VP of Staffing at the time.
One of her most memorable projects was winning and launching the Alpine Camp for ConocoPhillips. Diane helped create signage, menus, camps communication, and more. To this day, the Alpine camp is known for its family-like culture, team performance, and outstanding work environment.
Diane always takes the time to go above and beyond. When she sourced over 300 backpacks for all the camp employees’ holiday gifts, she took the time to handwrite personal notes for each recipient. It was a way to make connections and show her genuine appreciation for the team.
Proud doesn’t even begin to describe the impact Diane has had on me and our entire team. Since 2016 Diane has been instrumental in the success of our division and organization. Diane is one a kind, and I will forever be grateful for everything she does for me, our camps team and NMS but more importantly for our friendship. I’m glad everyone got a chance to see a little snapshot of who Diane is and all she does.” – Jason Carlson, VP Camp Services
When Diane isn’t clocking in at NMS, she serves as the Co-Commissioner of the South Anchorage Jaguars. She also serves as the Executive Board Member of Pop Warner Alaska. Diane’s Jaguars are the only ones undefeated in a league of nine teams! Her program has become so well-respected that one of her teams shut down registration in six hours on opening day. Now she’s receiving offers from other associations to take them over and rebuild. She was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award for her work with the Jaguars in 2019 and Alaska South Central Pop Warner 2021.
Diane’s upbringing has taught her always to give back. She learned that from her Tada, a bush pilot known for always helping in rescue missions in the NANA Region.
Diane is always looking out for the region. From donations to raffles to search and rescue efforts, she feels a sense of pride in giving back to the people of Kotzebue and the NANA Region.
We are so proud to have Diane on our team.
