As Arkansas moves into our first full year of being in the coveted position within Convention of States as a “passed state,” we also recognize the importance and responsibility to align with the mission of COS.
Our mission is to build a strong, engaged army of self-governing activists.
Long-time grassroots activist Jacque Martin worked tirelessly to help get the COS resolution passed in the 2019 legislative session and was recruited by former State Director Bud Cornwell and current Legislative Liaison Randy Alexander. Jacque now serves COS Arkansas as State Director.
With 17 years as a human resource generalist and 28 years as a systems analyst and project manager, Jacque’s unique career has helped her understand what motivates people and the human behavior that people exhibit.
Years of developing individual employees’ achievements and skills, working with labor relations, and having the guts to stand toe-to-toe with managers who had violated federal employment laws makes her the perfect fit in the current political arena.
No matter what task needs to be done or the personnel needed to accomplish the project, she knows how to build a strategy, develop a project team, and get buy-in from team members.
As a project manager, Jacque knows that organizational, relational, and communication skills are essential. Astute in establishing project timelines and monitoring milestones in striving for an overarching goal, she possesses meticulous communication skills that have been honed over the years.
Building relationships with the mission in mind is the oil that keeps everyone on target through all phases of the projects she has spearheaded both in her career and now as State Director.
Her experience in the corporate world of Fortune 100 and 500 companies lent well in Arkansas when she became a Tea Party leader representing Cleburne and White counties. With over 125 members at its peak, her genuine love for people was what propelled it forward.
During that time Jacque also helped to form nine other county Tea Party groups. She worked across the state to educate the public concerning the U.S. Constitution, provided a candidate forum during the 2010, 2012, and 2014 election cycles, and hosted several large rallies in Little Rock and multiple counties.
Jacque worked with other Tea Party leaders across the state to form a cohesive team and promote constitutional ideals. She recognized early on that the two things that many politicians care about are getting re-elected and raising funds for their campaigns.
Jacque was a County Chairman for her party committee. Party politics is not necessarily her cup of tea, there are always going to be political parties. She knows that it’s fruitful if we exert major influence within the party system.
At our state leaders meeting last fall, Jacque taught us how government works and broke it down for us to have the confidence to fully engage on the local level. We learned how vital it is for taking back our country and state, and she continues to teach people that this is a key strategy, as you can see from the training she created in COS University - VOL 100 "Engaging Local Government 101, 102".
If you ask Jacque about the future for Convention of States in Arkansas, it is bright.
“We can galvanize our supporters to stand for the U.S. Constitution and protect our God-given rights,” she said.
Our goal is to be the go-to organization in the development and promotion of constitutional ideals. Currently, Arkansas boasts about 22,000 petition signers. This makes COS Arkansas one of the foremost grassroots organizations in the state.
Jacque points us in the direction of looking to partner with other like-minded organizations. Over the next year and beyond, we will be building our core group to have greater influence in our own districts.
A key component is to provide more tools in order to be engaged at the local, state, and federal levels. Jacque is just the person to lead us, because she serves with her heart.
We are building an engaged and active grassroots army in Arkansas, and we invite others to help us in this vital endeavor.
