Martha de la Torre

De la Torre was born in East Los Angeles to an Ecuadorian mother and father. Her parents arrived in the United States from Ecuador in the 1950s.

After completing high school at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, de la Torre completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Loyola Marymount University.

De la Torre joined Arthur Young & Company in 1978 and became a Certified Public Accountant and audit manager specializing in banks and businesses targeting the U.S. Hispanic market. In 1986, she served two years as Chief Financial Officer of La Opinion, the largest Spanish language daily in the United States.

In 1988, de la Torre and her now-husband Joe Badame launched El Clasificado for Southern California's Latino population. It is now the largest free, weekly Spanish-language classifieds print publication in the U.S., reaching more than 1.5 million people.

ElClasificado.com was launched 10 years later in 1998 and is now the largest Spanish language classified marketplace in the U.S.

El Clasificado is the flagship product of EC Hispanic Media. EC Hispanic Media specializes in the Latino market and offers print, digital, social media and event advertising and marketing solutions to its clients. Its portfolio of brands include EC Classifieds, Quinceanera.com, Su Socio de Negocios, MasClientes and Al Borde.

In an interview she gave to KTTV, a Los Angeles local Fox Affiliate, de la Torre said that instead of buying a convertible car in 1988, she was encouraged to start her own business.[2]

She explained how she is balancing print growth with online push in a 2011 Bloomberg.com interview.[3]

Today, the company has revenues over $20 million, a weekly circulation of 405,000 copies and 160 employees.

De la Torre currently serves on the City National Bank Latino Advisory Board and the Loyola Marymount University Latino Alumni Association Board.

She is a former board member of the Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic[4] and the L.A. County Education Foundation. She formerly served on the Board of Regents [5] for Loyola Marymount University.

De la Torre was appointed Chairperson of the International Classified Media Association,[6] representing over 60 classified media organizations globally.

In 2010, CNBC named de la Torre one of the top 10 Hispanic entrepreneurs.

In May 2012 she received the Latino Business Award presented by the Los Angeles Business Journal and the recognition of her previous employer, Ernst and Young as Alumni in the News.[7]

The company has also been an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for the Greater Los Angeles area on three separate occasions.

In April 3, 2013, Hispanic Lifestyle Magazine named de la Torre one of Hispanic Lifestyle's 2013 Latinas of Influence[8]

In August 2014, she won the 2014 California Latina Business Woman of the Year Award.[9]

In November 2014, the Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and The Regional Hispanic Institute awarded the prize "Women of the Year" to Martha de la Torre. This award recognizes the impact of women in the Hispanic community through their efforts, their work, their leadership and inspiration.[10]

In 2016, she was awarded the Marcia Lamb Inner City Innovation Award at the ICIC 2016 Inner City 100 Awards for growing job opportunities in the inner cities.

In November 2018, de la Torre was awarded the Loyola Marymount University Latino Alumni Association (LAA) 'Alumni Role Model' award for her dedication and service to LAA and the LMU community.

• El Clasificado on Facebook
• El Clasificado website
• EC Hispanic Media Website