Cassandra Gutierrez began her journey with CNC in 2015 as a volunteer, concerned with the fair implementation of Measure T in Merced, which would divide the city into districts for local elections. She canvassed underrepresented neighborhoods in South Merced, encouraging them to attend a pivotal town hall meeting to determine the final map of district boundaries for Merced’s new election system. In part because of her engagement, families from the community showed up in unprecedented numbers, resulting in district boundaries that more accurately reflected the diverse community composition in Merced. The experience propelled her to become more deeply involved in CNC’s Merced work as a member of CNC’s Merced Committee and later in Sacramento as a team lead of a voter education program leading up to the November 2016 election.

One of Cassandra’s proudest endeavors was her work on CNC’s Cuenta Conmigo 2020 Census program, where the organization spoke to more than 300,000 families across the Sierra Foothills, San Joaquin Valley, and Coachella Valley. She was instrumental in onboarding community-based organizations in Stockton to the program and providing training for their first-ever field campaigns. Their collective work enabled CNC to exceed their goals and contributed to 7 out of 10 counties in Region 4 surpassing their 2010 Census benchmark.

Now, as Deputy Field Director, Cassandra has helped oversee countless field programs for CNC, managed multiple field teams, became an expert at collecting and analyzing data for field campaigns, and trained other organizations on managing and scaling up successful field campaigns of their own.

Cassandra Gutierrez graduated from the University of California, Merced, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Minor in Professional Writing. Outside work, she enjoys painting pots, knitting, caring for her plants, and doing as many do-it-yourself projects around the house as possible. She is also a proud big sister of two sisters, enjoys gardening with her mom, and caring for her sassy and funny 5-year-old daughter.