Prior to accepting the National Urban Fellows award, Carissa Faña Ortiz, served as an Associate at the Dewey Square Group LLC – a premier national public affairs firm with offices in Washington DC. Within this capacity she managed and led client accounts in the Latino marketing practice where she developed and executed community outreach strategies, built successful coalitions and strengthened key relationships on behalf of clients.

She represented diverse clients at several national Latino conferences, Capitol Hill meetings, educational briefings, fundraising events, as well as business networking events where she promoted new business opportunities. Ms. Faña was also instrumental in furthering clients profile and their commitment within the community by fostering strong partnerships and providing support for bilingual communication campaigns which conveyed meaningful messages.

Prior to her work at Dewey Square Group, she served as a Legislative Assistant for the Chairwoman of the House Small Business Committee, US Rep. Nydia M Velázquez, where she managed a realm of issues such as immigration reform, environmental policy, telecommunications, and worked closely with Hispanic and minority small businesses throughout the country.

In her role as Legislative Assistant, she provided policy advice to advance the congresswoman legislative agenda and served as the Congresswoman’s liaison to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus where she developed policy recommendations through the Housing, Business and Economic Development task force, coordinated conferences and established working relationships with national and local Hispanic organizations.

Ms. Faña experiences include developing ideas for legislation, providing strategic public policy analysis and building coalitions on Capitol Hill and among the Hispanic community. For a number of years she has volunteered in various political campaigns, and participated in voter registration activities such as voter mobilization and education efforts -- through the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and America Votes.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and a minor in French from Dickinson College, in Carlisle PA. During college she was actively engaged in many student body organizations serving as the treasurer of the Latin American Club, being an active member of the Umoja Club, hosting a radio show on campus, as well as being a Multicultural Assistant recruiter for the admissions office to promote diversity on campus. In recognition for her leadership role and active commitment to college diversity she was awarded the Leader of Tomorrow Award.

Ms. Faña hopes to further develop her analytical and leadership skills through the National Urban Fellows program. As a graduate from the program she envisions herself playing a leading role in bringing tangible solutions and empowerment to marginalized communities.