Clarissa Martínez-De-Castro is passionate about strengthening civil society. As Deputy Vice President at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S, she leads efforts to advance fair and effective immigration policies, and to expand Latino civic engagement by helping immigrants become citizens, citizens become voters, and the community overall become an active participant in policy debates. She is leading NCLR’s new Rise Above initiative to build a positive, accurate narrative of our changing America that fosters collaborative action.

A frequent media commentator on the Latino electorate and immigration, Martinez De Castro is a graduate of Occidental College and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a U.S. Vote Foundation advisory board member, a 2015 Presidential Leadership Scholar, and a Nantucket Project 2015 Catalyst Fellow.