Casey Knotts
Washington University in St. Louis
Casey Knotts is an inquisitive and action-oriented civic leader who is dedicated to women empowerment and civic engagement. Casey is currently pursuing dual master's degrees in social work and public health in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Casey has combined her skills in program evaluation, research, and social work with her personal passion for community engagement in both clinical and organization settings. Casey is an astute scholar-practitioner who balances service to community through her roles with the Girl Scouts, the YWCA Metro St. Louis, and Americorps with developing evaluation structures to measure community impact. In addition to her studies and co-curricular commitments, Casey works as a Masters Research Fellow at the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement, where she develops assessment tools to evaluate the impact of the institute's programs. She also serves on the Executive Committee for Women in Leadership at the Brown School. Casey is an emerging community-oriented professional whose leadership, education, and experience represent the ideals of the Newman Civic Fellowship.
Personal Statement
As a graduate student seeking dual master's degrees in Social Work and Public Health, I endeavor to combine the advocacy abilities of a social worker and the meticulous research skills of a public health professional to address issues facing women through evidence-based interventions and programming. I have dedicated my life to empowering women through my involvement in organizations such as the Girl Scouts of America, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, and most recently as a program leader for the Metro St. Louis YWCA's Future Leaders Academy. My transdisciplinary training provides me with the skillset to examine a variety of issues facing women, from gender-based health disparities to systemic social inequalities, at the individual, community and national levels, and work in partnership with different stakeholder groups in the larger community. The Newman Civic Fellowship supports my professional and academic pursuits through its mission to develop future community-engaged leaders. As a Newman Civic Fellow I would be afforded the opportunity to connect, collaborate, and learn from other emerging thought leaders, and create programming and legislation that will positively impact services for our communities and the individuals within them.
