Marisa Catalina Casey (born in Bogotá, Colombia on November 5, 1979), is a photographer, graphic designer, educator, and co-author of the book Born in Our Hearts. A current Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador (2012-2014), Casey is the Founder and Executive Director of Starting Artists, Inc., a nonprofit organization benefiting underserved youth in Brooklyn, New York through training in the arts and entrepreneurship. Her 6-word memoir and photo-illustration are included in the book, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure and she is a contributor to the 2010 book, “The World I Dream Of”.
Casey was a semi-finalist for the 2007-8 and 2008-9 Echoing Green Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurs and was a 2008-9 YouthActionNet Global Fellow through the International Youth Foundation. Chosen to participate in the 2009 American Express Nonprofit Leadership Institute, Casey was the only American representative at the 2010 Lucca Leadership Foundations course in South Africa. Casey is a newly named member of the Transatlantic Network 2020 (TN2020), a coalition of young Europeans and North Americans run by the British Council taking collaborative action on global issues, and is finishing her 3-year term on the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Council.