Lia Martinez-Machado joined Knight Foundation in June 2006. She has experience as a fund accountant for Dimension Capital Management, where she worked with offshore funds to prepare year-end financial statements, assist with audits and project and analyze operating expenses, in addition to other duties. Martinez's previous experience includes being a hedge fund auditor for Kaufman, Rossin & Co. in Miami.

Martinez earned both her master's in taxation and a bachelor's in accounting from Florida International University, and has been a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of Florida since October 2009.