As Alonzo Washington moves on to other adventures, CASA in Action and the entire CASA family celebrate his many accomplishments leading a spectacular growth in the size and maturity of our electoral programs as CASA in Action’s first ever Executive Director.
Assuming the role in 2020, Alonzo led the CASA in Action team in our very first successful presidential race, in particular leading the critical work producing the razor-thin majority delivering Pennsylvania, and accordingly the country, to President Biden.
Like many organizations, our attention quickly pivoted to Georgia as the fate of the Senate hung in the balance. After a grueling 2020 election season, most would have taken a break. Alonzo had the vision to immediately seek the guidance and permission of our Georgia partners to create a brand-new team and help deliver the Latino vote for Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. That work was the first step leading our expansion into Georgia, now our fourth home.
As an organization deeply committed to both making Democrats more progressive and winning general elections, CASA in Action – Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia – is engaged in electoral work somewhere for at least two elections a year, every year. In the midst of that grinding level of work, it can become easy to simply survive, but Alonzo had the vision to significantly grow our team. A relatively simple organization that had flatlined off season in most years, he hired Elections Managers for each state, a Field Director, a Leadership Director, a CASA in Action Communications Manager, and is recruiting a Data Manager. Doing so wasn’t cheap and he worked with CASA in Action’s extraordinary Development team to grow our finances to meet our geographic and staffing goals. Alonzo’s latest initiative was to launch CASA in Action’s leadership academy, designed to develop CASA in Action members and other progressives to assume community leadership in posts from local town councils to Congress.
Finishing off the 2022 general election, Alonzo’s leadership has resulted in our largest electoral program in history; one in which we contacted over 100,000 voters across 4 states through door-knocking, calling, texting, and delivering tens of millions of digital impressions. Thanks to his leadership, CASA in Action literally played a key role in defending the US Senate.
“Alonzo Washington had the vision to see what was truly possible for CASA in Action,” said Gustavo Torres, Board President. “Under his leadership, our baby sibling organization became a giant.”
In addition to being an extraordinary leader for CASA in Action, Alonzo became CASA’s first Chief of Racial Equity and Inclusion. He led the organization through a critical audit of CASA’s processes, policies and procedures, which included staff assessments and surveys, training, various analysis, and more. Working closely and immediately with Black@CASA, the LGBTQIA+, DEI committees, as well as various departments across CASA, he began to implement immediate changes to CASA practices. All of this in order to make CASA a place people can truly call a home for all.
As Alonzo moves on professionally, we thank him on behalf of our more than 122,000 lifetime CASA in Action members for the contribution he has made to the lives of their families and the future of our democracy.
With over 122,000 lifetime Latino, immigrant, and working-class members across 46 US states, CASA is the foremost immigrant organization in the mid-Atlantic region and a national leader in supporting immigrant families and ensuring that all individuals have the core support necessary for full participation in society. Now a national immigrant powerhouse, CASA creates change with its powerbuilding model blending human services, community organizing, and advocacy in order to serve the full spectrum of the needs, dreams, and aspirations of members. Visit us at www.wearecasa.org and follow us on Twitter at @CASAforall.
