Martha received her undergraduate degree from Grinnell College (1980), and completed two Masters Degrees at Iowa State University, one in anthropology (1985) and one in economics (1990). She worked for several years as Field Director for the Center for Family Research at Iowa State University, doing questionnaire design and interviewer training. She next worked as a Database Administrator for the Office of Sponsored Programs at Iowa State University, doing database reporting and training database users. In 2003, she began work as a Technical Writer/Trainer with the Iowa State University Child Welfare Project, providing both written and in-person training resources for the Iowa Child Support Recovery Unit.