Amy Casso

Amy Casso (she/her) is a skilled capacity builder, racial justice strategist, and lifelong learner with 25 years of experience in advancing racial, gender, economic, immigrant, reproductive, and health justice within nonprofits, government, and foundations. Her dedication is grounded in a deep commitment to strengthening organizational and individual capacities and understanding her role in contributing to meaningful and transformative social change.

Amy’s professional journey reflects her personal theory of change, which centers on investing in people and processes that foster leadership, shift power, and build capacity within communities and organizations to achieve social change. Her expertise in building cross-movement collaborations and championing an intersectional approach has resulted in significant achievements. Notably, she played an instrumental role in the successful passage of groundbreaking reproductive health legislation, spearheaded the Latinx strategy that contributed to the resounding defeat of ballot measures, and made substantial contributions to shifting power and policy in Oregon.

Drawing on her lessons learned, Amy brings a collaborative and people-centered approach that meets individuals where they are at, partners in their success, and provides resources and tools to actualize their vision. She has extensive experience providing technical support and training to organizations, campaigns, foundations, and governmental agencies on racial, gender, and reproductive justice inclusionary policies, strategies, and best practices.

Before joining IISC as a Senior Associate, Amy oversaw large-scale and targeted racial equity strategies and provided technical assistance for the City of San Antonio. She also stewarded the groundbreaking multi-racial/multi-issue reproductive justice project “We are BRAVE” and co-founded Colectivo Flatlander, a regional grassroots training organization that equipped immigrant rights organizers from the South and Southwest with essential tools for organizational development, leadership, and strategy.

Amy is a dog mom, a foodie with VIP tastebuds on a nonprofit budget, loves to travel, and is a huge Oregon Duck fan. She holds an MPA from the University of Washington Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs and a BA from the University of Oregon. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in Leadership Studies at Our Lady of Lake University. In 2017, Amy was selected as a National Rockwood Leadership Fellow for Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice.