Adoption, Child Protection, Foster Care, Permanence, Positive Youth Development, State Policy, Youth and Work, Youth in Transition (Aging Out)
Vice President, Center for Systems Innovation
As vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Center for Systems Innovation, Sandra Gasca-Gonzalez oversees national and state reform efforts in three key areas: child welfare, young people transitioning into adulthood and juvenile justice.
Prior to assuming this role in 2018, Gasca-Gonzalez served as the director of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, which aims to equip young people leaving foster care with the relationships, resources and opportunities needed to achieve well-being and success as they transition into adulthood.
A former Children and Family Fellow, Gasca-Gonzalez joined the Foundation in 2015. She previously worked at KVC Health Systems, a national leader in behavioral health care, child welfare, and community health and wellness. As the nonprofit’s executive vice president of practice and leadership integration, Gasca-Gonzalez led efforts to transform child welfare systems with results-based decision making and clinical best practices.
Gasca-Gonzalez’s career stops include the Child and Family Services Agency in Washington, D.C., KVC Nebraska and Youthville (now EmberHope), a Kansas-based nonprofit serving at-risk youth and families.
Gasca-Gonzalez is a graduate of the National Hispanic Leadership Institute and holds an Executive Leadership Certificate from Harvard University. She earned a master’s degree in psychology from Emporia State University and a bachelor’s degree from Southwestern College in Kansas.