Contributor

Clarissa Martinez De Castro

Director, Civic Engagment and Immigration, National Council of La Raza

Clarissa Martínez De Castro is the Director of Immigration and National Campaigns at the National Council of La Raza, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. Her expertise is in immigration legislative advocacy and strategy; Latino electorate, voter mobilization, and civic participation; state advocacy efforts; coalition-building; and management. She has a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and world affairs from Occidental College.

Her previous positions include Manager of the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a broad network of national, state, and local organizations committed to advancing policy solutions on immigration; NCLR Director of State/Local Public Policy, managing state policy advocacy efforts and civic engagement work; Public Policy Coordinator, Southwest Voter Research Institute (William C. Velasquez Institute); Assistant Director, California-Mexico Project at the University of Southern California; Organizer, International Ladies Garment Workers Union; and Union Representative, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) Local 11.