Caroline Casagrande (born November 21, 1976) is an attorney and former American government official and political appointee in the administration of President Donald J. Trump who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs at the U.S. Department of State overseeing global public diplomacy programs. Earlier, Casagrande served as a Deputy Republican leader in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

, representing the  11th Legislative District, from 2012 to 2016 and the 12th legislative district from 2008 to 2012. Casagrande is the youngest woman assembly member ever elected in New Jersey.

Early life and family

Casagrande was born in Point Pleasant, and grew up in nearby Spring Lake. She graduated from Red Bank Catholic High School, in

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York metro ...

. While in college, Casagrande worked in the new democratic government of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

during her time studying at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal-

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

. Later, she was awarded a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from Rutgers School of Law–Camden. Casagrande lives in Arlington, VA with her husband, Stephen Chance, and three children.

Education

Casagrande earned a B.S. degree from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

majoring in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. She was elected as Undergraduate Student Government President, where she worked to reduce the cost of student transportation around campus, improve student health care services, and protect students from dramatic tuition increases. In 2010 and 2015 respectively, Pennsylvania State University awarded Casagrande the Young Alumni Achievement Award as well as the Young Alumni Political Science Award.Thirteen Young Penn Staters Honored With Alumni Achievement Award.
Penn State News. April 9, 2010. Casagrande is a double-alumni of the

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries around the world. It is responsible for the Un ...

. She was an American Council for Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) delegate to

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

in 2009. In 2015, Casagrande was awarded the ACYPL fellowship to the

East-West Center East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

to study

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

with parliamentarians from Asia.

Career

Legal

Casagrande was a partner and attorney with the law firm of Menna, Supko & Casagrande in Shrewsbury, N.J. Previously, she worked as a litigation associate for the firm Cleary, Alfieri Jones & Hoyle (now Cleary, Giacobbe, Alfieri, & Jacobs). Casagrande has also served as municipal attorney to Manalapan Township and special counsel to Fair Haven. After graduating from law school, she clerked for

New Jersey Superior Court The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts: under Article Six of the State Consti ...

Judge Robert O'Hagan.

New Jersey General Assembly

In 2007, Casagrande ran on the Republican ticket for New Jersey State Assemblywoman of the 12th district alongside Declan O'Scanlon. Casagrande defeated O'Scanlon defeated Democratic incumbent Assemblyman Michael J. Panter and his running mate Amy Mallet. Casagrande thus became the youngest woman to ever be elected to the New Jersey General Assembly.Staff
"Assembly races: 12th and 30th"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', October 28, 2009. Accessed May 1, 2013. "It is represented by two Republican first-termers: Declan O'Scanlon Jr., a wireless telecommunications consultant from Little Silver, and Caroline Casagrande, a lawyer from Colts Neck, who at age 30 was the youngest woman ever elected to the New Jersey Assembly."12the Legislative District Web page biography
, District 12. Accessed June 19, 2009. She served in the Assembly on the Appropriations Committee and the Women and Children Committee. In 2011 Casagrande was redistricted to the 11th Legislative District where she sought re-election along with Senator Jennifer Beck, who was also shifted out of the 12th district, and Assembly member Mary Pat Angelini. They were the first trio of women to be elected as a team to the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

. Casagrande served in various leadership positions within the Republican Caucus - eventually rising to Deputy Republican Leader. She also served as a Republican Commissioner on the

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington ...

, which was charged with redrawing the lines of the State's congressional districts following the 2010 United States census. Casagrande lost her 2015 bid for re-election to Democratic challengers Joann Downey and Eric Houghtaling. Casagrande finished fourth among the four major party candidates behind Houghtaling, Downey and her Republican running mate, Mary Pat Angelini.

United States Department of State

Starting in April 2018, Casagrande entered the U.S. Department of State as a political appointee of the Trump Administration as the Special Advisor to Assistant Secretary Marie Royce in the

. Casagrande was sworn into the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Academic Programs in September 2018 with the responsibility of shaping policy across the interagency and stewarding resources in excess of $400 million. In this role, Casagrande oversaw the flagship

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

program, the Education USA Network of 435 global recruitment centers, 630 overseas American Spaces,

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

sponsored English language education programming, the Humphrey Fellowship, Gilman Scholarships, undergraduate exchanges, and teacher exchanges. Casagrande also served on the National Security Education Board. As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs, Casagrande promoted the message that the United States welcomes

international student International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...

s when questioned if the Trump administration's immigration policy had led to a decrease in foreign enrollment at US universities. Casagrande's State Department appointment ended with President Trump's term on January 20, 2021.

Countries visited to promote US academics for international students

, March 2019. *

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, May 2019. *

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

, May 2019. *

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, August 2019. *

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, September 2019. *

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, December 2019. *

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, December 2019. *

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, January 2020.

Rutgers University

Casagrande was a Visiting Associate of the

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

Eagleton Institute of Politics The Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University was established in 1956 with an endowment from Florence Peshine Eagleton (1870–1953), and it focuses on state and national politics through education and public service. Ruth Mandel served ...

until 2019. In 2018, Casagrande was featured in a Rutgers television commercialHow Rutgers Is Getting Women 'Ready To Run'
BTN Livebig. By John Tolley, January 12, 2019. about training women running for public office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casagrande, Caroline 1976 births Living people Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Lawyers from Monmouth County, New Jersey Lawyers from Ocean County, New Jersey Pennsylvania State University alumni People from Colts Neck Township, New Jersey People from Point Pleasant, New Jersey People from Spring Lake, New Jersey Politicians from Monmouth County, New Jersey Politicians from Ocean County, New Jersey Red Bank Catholic High School alumni Rutgers School of Law–Camden alumni Women state legislators in New Jersey 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women politicians United States Department of State United States Department of State officials Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature