Project Description
Laurel Gwizdak Rinaldi serves as CCA’s Deputy Director. Laurel Gwizdak Rinaldi has 16 years’ experience in the youth development field, specializing in designing advocacy programs in collaboration with youth impacted by systematic racism and economic injustice. Her work at CCA has focused on increasing employment and career opportunities for young people impacted by the justice system and enhancing youth voice in program design and evaluation. Before CCA, she worked as the Education Director at Reel Works where she developed programs for Brooklyn youth to produce award-winning documentaries and enter the film and journalism industries. Previously, she created participatory media programs for international NGOs, including with anti-caste activists in India and aspiring female journalists in Senegal, and developed youth workforce toolkits for international development organizations including the USAID’s Jordan Tourism Development Project. Laurel served in the Peace Corps as a Youth Development Specialist in rural Ukraine and worked for a State Department program to support civic engagement in the former Soviet Union. She holds a Master’s in International Development Studies from the George Washington University and a Bachelor’s in Cinema Production from San Francisco State University. Her documentary work on conservation and immigration advocacy has aired on PBS and been featured on a variety of platforms including the Washington Post, Change.org, and the Immigrant Justice Network.