Lydia Walther-Rodriguez never planned to be a leader of a national organization. She never even expected to go to college.

“We were just working class,” Walther-Rodriguez, 35, told The Baltimore Sun. “My family did not have the means.”

But she did. A softball scholarship brought her to Morgan State University 18 years ago, and Morgan brought her to CASA — a national activist organization for Latino, Black and immigrant communities.

Afro-Latina organizer Lydia Walther-Rodriguez rose from Baltimore community work to a national role at CASA, training and supporting activists. (Courtesy of Lydia Walther-Rodriguez)

Walther-Rodriguez serves as the chief of organizing and leadership, coaching and training fellow activists.

Her mother endured the invasion of Panamá while pregnant with Walther-Rodriguez, who is Afro-Latina. The family immigrated to the United States and softball brought Lydia to Baltimore, where she became the organization’s region director, community organizer and lead organizer in Baltimore and Central Maryland until her promotion in 2022.

“A lot of our work, and my work, is to bring hope in a time that feels so hopeless,” Walther-Rodriguez said.

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