Cassidie Carmen Bates leads the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano’s advocacy team. She has been with the Food Bank since 2019, first as the Policy and Advocacy Manager, and since 2021 as the Government and Public Affairs Manager, where she focuses on strengthening the strategic, media, and policy partnerships for the organization; leading policy steering; and supporting the facilitation of our two community-based advocacy programs.

Growing up as a WIC baby, Cassidie is passionate about working with mission-driven organizations focused on centering lived expertise — the voices of those impacted by the work itself. She’s developed effective client-centered advocacy models during her time with the Food Bank, which the team has had opportunities to present to nonprofit partners at the national and state-wide levels. Cassidie believes that informed legislative advocacy is a powerful agent for systems change.

Cassidie has worked in the nonprofit sector, political consulting, and on congressional campaigns and has policy experience on the local, state, and national levels. Cassidie’s an alumna of the University of California, Berkeley in Legal Studies and a former Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow at the Goldman School of Public Policy.

Cassidie Carmen Bates
Government and Public Affairs Manager
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
925-334-2766; press@foodbankccs.org