2024 Annual Report
Welcome
Friends,
CASA is preparing to enter its 40th year of serving the immigrant community. While much has changed over the last four decades, one thing has remained constant: working together, our movement has the power to win justice and radically change the lives of our members and their communities for the better.
In this past fiscal year, CASA’s direct services provided over 40,756 individuals with high-quality direct services. Connecting these folks with vocational training, legal services, health navigation, and various other services paved the way for 18,000+ individuals to become CASA members, and empowered them to take a leadership role in their communities. Together with our partners and allies, CASA community leaders organized and secured critical victories for immigrant and working-class families across our footprint. Victories that increased access to healthcare for undocumented immigrants in Maryland, codified increased protections for tenants in Georgia, and granted thousands across the county work authorization and relief from deportation. These victories, and the impact of CASA’s direct services, were made possible because of the powerful leadership of CASA’s 155,000+ lifetime members combined with your support and dedication to our mission.
As you read through this year’s annual report, I hope it is apparent to you the power that our community has when we act as one. CASA’s unique member-led model – combined with CASA supporters, partners, donors, and allies – is the source of that 
power. In a word, solidarity – across lines of race, class, national origin, age, sexuality, gender, and ability – is the foundation from which our power grows. It is that power that will enable CASA to take advantage of future opportunities and face the next new unprecedented challenge. With your support, CASA members will continue to fight and we will continue to win.
Thank you
In solidarity,
Gustavo Torres
Executive Director
99,128
services provided
40,436
individuals served
$2,508,506
Economic Impact of CASA’s
Tax Preparation Program
7,104
jobs worked by CASA workers
822
workers assisted through CASA’s
Job Placement services
190
countries of origin represented
in CASA’s Membership
$2,856,237
Wages earned by CASA members through CASA’s Job Placement services
75%
of Life Skill ESOL students reported that they now communicate better at work
New Strategic Plan
Every five years, the CASA family of organizations develops its strategic plan, a vision for the future of the organization that shapes its advocacy, organizing, services, and communications projects. In 2023, CASA assembled its most diverse and dynamic Strategic Plan Design Team — engaging CASA members, board representatives, affinity group representatives, and staff representatives — to build on our successes and chart a bold path forward in the form of a new strategic plan. Each perspective represented in this process offered a strong and diverse set of voices that together established CASA’s 2024-2029 Strategic Plan. We are thrilled to present, a roadmap that reflects our commitment to sustainable growth for our movement, rooted in our core values of justice, equity, and inclusion.
Commitment to Racial Justice, Equity, and Inclusion
At CASA, our commitment to racial justice, equity, and inclusion is not just a statement; it’s a guiding principle that shapes everything we do.
This year, our staff-led affinity groups, including the LGBTQ+ Committee and Black @ CASA, have created vibrant spaces for celebration and reflection. Whether it was honoring Pride alongside Cio’s Playhouse and other Latino/a/e groups or commemorating Juneteenth with film screenings, music, and delicious food, these events have fostered community and solidarity.
We also launched two initiatives to allow staff to share their experiences at CASA, broadening perspectives, and ensuring that our organization continues to evolve in alignment with our values. Staff participated in Talking circles and shared their experiences with intersecting identities and how that impacts their experience within the organization. In combination with the comprehensive demographic survey conducted this year, we have been able to identify disparities and areas for improvement within CASA, guiding our efforts toward creating a more inclusive workplace. We now have a much more thorough baseline to measure our progress in advancing racial and gender justice. Together, we are committed to building a work environment that reflects the diverse identities and experiences of our community, enhancing our collective fight for justice and equity, and establishing CASA as a Pro-Black, Pro-Indigenous, Feminist, and Queer Liberation organization as aligned with our 5-year strategic plan!
Member Spotlight
CASA’s leadership Committee
Many organizations serve communities, but at CASA, there is no division between our organization and the community we serve. Simply put, CASA’s members are CASA, and nowhere is that embodied more fully than in CASA’s Comite Liderazgo (“Leadership Committee”). CASA’s leadership council is the primary member decision-making body for CASA.
To fully understand the power of these amazing leaders, it’s important to be grounded in CASA’s member leadership structure. CASA’s members are organized into geographic committees based on where they live. These geo-committees are the building blocks of CASA’s member-led decision-making structure and include our dues-paying members in that region, including new members as well as member leaders. It is at this level that CASA’s local campaign priorities are established on an annual basis, directly by our local members. To do this work, these committees meet at least twice per month, usually once for a meeting and once to take action (or training). Each committee is ably staffed by a CASA organizer. To be an ‘official’ committee, each region must have between 30-100 dues-paying members participating regularly in campaign planning and movement actions.
Once a committee has developed enough member activists to earn official status, among the many new powers afforded to those members is the ability to elect two member leaders from among their committees to serve as representatives on CASA’s leadership council. Like their local counterparts, they meet bi-monthly – the collected elected representatives for individual states form state councils (e.g. all of the elected local committee representatives for Maryland comprise the MD leadership council) charged with setting statewide campaign priorities for the year, while the complete group of elected local leadership representatives meets to determine CASA’s national/federal campaign priorities.
To earn the respect and leadership of your highly engaged, activist peers – to be recognized as a leader among leaders – is no small feat. These incredible CASA members are truly exemplary of everything CASA is trying to achieve in terms of leadership development and as representatives of our core mission of communities standing in their own power.
Staff Spotlight - Victor Rodriguez
We frequently have the opportunity to highlight the work of CASA’s incredible frontline staff, who spend every day delivering services, organizing with the immigrant community, and helping to drive our campaigns forward. But all of that powerful work is made possible by the collaborative effort of equally passionate, talented, and dedicated administrative staff working to keep CASA’s operations going on a day-to-day basis. Victor Rodriguez, CASA’s Senior Revenue Accountant, embodies CASA’s mission, vision, and values every day in his work.
Like so many, Victor’s work at CASA was borne out of his passion and values – Victor began work at CASA as a volunteer. Formally joining the staff in the summer of 2010, Victor applied and grew his skills as an accountant as he steadily moved up the ranks in CASA’s finance department. These days, as our Senior Revenue Specialist, Victor deals with the most complicated part of CASA’s finances and his work is, in no small part, central to CASA’s operations. CASA delivers services to our members in partnership with local, state, and federal government, and coordinates with program managers, development staff, and government partners. Victor and his team are responsible for ensuring CASA’s work is properly recognized and compensated.
“For over 15 years, I’ve had the honor of working with Victor, a great father to two incredible young men. His dedication to excellence and genuine care for our members and our institution inspire everyone around him. Victor’s kindness and support strengthen our team, and I deeply respect him as both a co-worker and a friend.”
—CASA’s Executive Director, Gustavo Torres
Victor was born and raised in Colombia. He spent all his life there – studied, played basketball professionally, and had his family including twin boys. In the late 2000s, he came to the United States in search of opportunity and a better life for his family whom he had to leave behind. During the pandemic, Victor’s life changed dramatically when he was able to bring his then two teenage sons, whom he had long supported from afar with his work here at CASA, to live with him in the United States. Victor engaged himself and his sons in a range of CASA services and community activities, both of which have helped his children adapt quickly to their new life. Like many families that migrate to the US, he faced many struggles but Victor’s special outlook on life and all that is possible kept him, his sons, and his family at CASA in great and positive spirits.
Victor was born and raised in Colombia. He spent all his life there – studied, played basketball professionally, and had his family including twin boys. In the late 2000s, he came to the United States in search of opportunity and a better life for his family whom he had to leave behind. During the pandemic, Victor’s life changed dramatically when he was able to bring his then two teenage sons, whom he had long supported from afar with his work here at CASA, to live with him in the United States. Victor engaged himself and his sons in a range of CASA services and community activities, both of which have helped his children adapt quickly to their new life. Like many families that migrate to the US, he faced many struggles but Victor’s special outlook on life and all that is possible kept him, his sons, and his family at CASA in great and positive spirits.
Speaking from his own experience, those of his sons, and his community, Victor is a powerful voice for immigrant justice. Fierce advocate though he may be, Victor’s reputation at CASA is one of overwhelming kindness and good nature. Those who have worked with him describe Victor as “dedicated,” “brilliant,” and “an incredibly kind person you just enjoy being around.”
Victor’s story is CASA’s story, and we’re honored and lucky to have him as a member of our CASA family. We highlight Victor this year to celebrate this outstanding colleague as a leader, as a co-worker, and as a friend.
