West Roxbury woman's business helps bridge cultural divides

For Boston-based Archipelago Strategies Group (ASG), helping clients bridge cultural divides has been its lifeblood since 2013. And now, led by West Roxbury resident Josiane Martinez, it boasts LGBT Business Enterprise certification from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Martinez, who serves as ASG’s principal and creative director, founded the marketing and PR consulting firm to help bridge the gap that she often saw between organizations and the clients or customers they were trying to reach. Now, as the region’s first LBGT, minority and woman-owned marking and PR firm, she and her small staff continue to do just that.

“At Archipelago Strategies Group, diversity runs in our veins,” said Martinez, who is originally from Puerto Rico. “We love helping our clients build dynamic campaigns that bridge cultural divides.”

The LGBT certification, like ASG’s previous certifications from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Boston as a minority and woman-owned business enterprise, will allow the firm to tap into a network of organizations looking for solutions that meet the needs of a diverse customer base and will also allow ASG to be listed in a database that will help likeminded organizations find them.

“It opens a window of opportunity for us because we will have access to jobs posted by the city and contracts posted by the state,” Martinez said. “It gives us added visibility and helps to differentiate us from the rest.”

Martinez named the firm for the geographic term referring to a cluster of islands.

“Our specialty is bridging cultural divides … each of us is an island, but we don’t realize how close we are to each other,” she said. “We want people to understand that we are all able to connect to each other.”

Jay Gonzalez, president and CEO of CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts has learned this first hand. While CeltiCare was already using a PR firm for its general business, that firm suggested Archipelago when it came to enrolling clients in the Massachusetts Health Connector.

“We wanted to create a positive presence in ethnic and minority communities and [Martinez] is so uniquely positioned to be a great resource to anyone trying to connect with specific groups of people.”

From creating a CeltiCare media strategy to planning events hosted in areas like Lawrence, Brockton and Springfield, Gonzalez believes the energy and expertise Martinez channeled with CeltiCare’s project will translate to the LGBT community as well.

“I was really excited to hear that Archipelago had received the certification … it’s validation that she’s just as connected to the LGBT community,” he said. “It will be meaningful for us and a lot of other companies to do business with these firms that can help us all connect.”

For every organization like CeltiCare, that knows it needs help making that connection, there are others that may not yet understand why a strategy to reach specific groups is so helpful.

“Some organizations are really good at understanding the social context in which they operate and there are others that are still trying to figure it out,” Martinez said. “I’m proud of what we’re doing … this kind of strategy is so important in the world we live in now.”

For additional information on LGBT Business Enterprise certification, visit: www.nglcc.org/get-certified