Educator at heart: Londagin leaving Startup Junkie Foundation to teach English
by May 22, 2023 3:37 pm 1,124 views
Martha Londagin is returning to her roots, which will be a significant loss for Northwest Arkansas’ business community but a big gain for schoolkids in northeast Oklahoma.
Londagin, a business consultant with the Startup Junkie Foundation in Fayetteville, is leaving the nonprofit for a job teaching English at Wyandotte High School. Her last day with the foundation is May 31, and she’ll begin the teaching assignment this fall.
Londagin emailed the career update to clients, friends and colleagues late last month.
“Some of you may not know this, but I began my professional life as a high school English and communications teacher,” she wrote. “I taught in Arkansas and Oklahoma public schools for seven years.”
Armed with an extensive resume, Londagin joined Startup Junkie four years ago, offering business advice to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Before that, she was a vice president and SBA loan specialist at Legacy National Bank in Springdale. She previously was a training coordinator and business consultant at the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.
Londagin, who lives with her husband in Grove, Okla., has two degrees from the UA, including a law degree.
“I have been fortunate to have worked with and learned from Jeff Amerine, the Startup Junkie Consulting founder, since we met when I first started work at the Walton College ASBTDC in 2012,” Londagin wrote. “Jeff has had the vision of greatness for this incredible NWA entrepreneur community since 2008.
“Brett Amerine [his son] and Jeff blessed NWA with the creation of the Startup Junkie Foundation in 2015 to provide access to entrepreneurship for all persons, and both have mentored me and assisted me in being an effective consultant to my hundreds of clients.”
Londagin is also the capital access manager for microloan nonprofit Kiva’s Northwest Arkansas hub. She said that Claudia Scott has been hired to fill that role.