Anna Castro thinks like an organizer, strategizes like an attorney, and does research like a policy advocate.
Anna partners with organizations that are looking to create transformational change led by impacted communities. She builds culturally competent and trauma-informed communications strategies that give impacted communities more than a voice — she works towards restoring power and nurturing leaders. From developing a binational communications strategy to reunite families separated by unjust deportations to getting out the Latinx vote in battleground states, she anticipates challenges and thinks beyond short-term political wins to effect long-term change.
She has worked for the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties and Mi Familia Vota, and as a consultant on projects with Lift Up Contra Costa, Open Society Foundation, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, Open Society Foundation, and Transgender Law Center among others.
Cross-movement bridge building is the foundation of Anna’s work. She is a part of the Solidarity Is project team, founded by South Asian activist Deepa Iyer. The Solidarity Is project provides individuals and organizations with tools, resources, and ideas to foster meaningful solidarity practices that bring about power, equity, inclusion and justice.
Anna received her B.A. in Black Studies from Amherst College. She’s a proud member of the Beyhive and loves her cat more than words. She did yoga sculpt teacher training but refuses to do inversions. She lives in Austin, Texas.
As a consultant, she works with organizations who are looking to mission shift from serving impacted communities to creating transformational change alongside communities. She is currently the coordinator and lead communicator for a campaign designed to improve conditions for LGBTQ immigrants in the United States, anchored by Transgender Law Center, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project, and Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement. In collaboration with South Asian activist Deepa Iyer, she also launched the Solidarity School, an online training series designed to foster cross-movement solidarity by providing tools that bridge the gap between theory and practice in combating anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiment.