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Graduate Research

Authored, Grieve Leave, Original Research and Report: Bereavement Leave Policies in the United States – November 2025

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Publications & Media Features

Portfolio

March 21, 2026

Death Is Inevitable. Bereavement Leave Is Not: Baby Boomers and the U.S. Workforce

March 21, 2026

March 17, 2026

Cassidie Carmen Bates Delivers TEDx Talk on Grief, Purpose, and the Power of Lived Expertise at TEDxDuke

March 17, 2026

February 17, 2026

‘Honor that they lived’: Duke affiliates explore grief from a personal and policy angle

February 17, 2026

January 28, 2026

Executor Road: When Grief Hands You a Job: Lessons from Serving as an Executor by Cassidie Bates

January 28, 2026

📰 KTLA, BoxLunch Gala Honoring Feeding America®: A Night of Philanthropy and Celebration – November 2023
📰 ComicBook, BoxLunch Gala 2023 Honors Feeding America, Stranger Things’ David Harbour Donates $200k – November 2023
✎ Authored, Food Bank Advocacy Team and CAP Advocates Take D.C. – June 2023
✎ Authored, What’s on the Food Bank’s Hunger-Fighting Agenda for 2023 – April 2023
▶ City of Fairfield, In Your City, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – April 2023
▶ ABC10 To the Point, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano sees increasing demand, how to help – April 2023
✎ Authored, Farm Bill 2023: Advocating to Strengthen our Safety Net – February 2023
📰 California Association of Food Banks, Food Banks Provide Comments at Tulare Farm Bill Listening Session, 2/14/23 – February 2023
📰 East Bay TImes, Share the Spirit: Bay Area food bank staffers work around the clock to keep up with massive demand – December 2022
▶ CBS Bay Area, Girls lemonade stand helps fund East Bay food bank – December 2022
▶ CBS Bay Area, Inflation, pandemic brings more people to Bay Area food banks Inflation, pandemic brings more people to Bay Area food banks – November 2022
📰 Saint Mary’s College of California, Let’s Talk About College Hunger – August 2022
✎ Authored, The State Budget is in! – August 2022
✎ Authored, California Association of Food Banks – Cassidie Carmen Bates: Why I’m Attending Food ACCESS 2022 – August 2022
▶ FOX NEWS, Food banks in America experience surging demand: ‘No sign of it slowing down any time soon’ – July 2022
📰 CNN, Skipping meals. Racking up debt. How inflation is squeezing single parents – May 2022
📰 Food Bank News, How Clients are Shaping Food Bank Advocacy – May 2022
📰 NBC, Inflation, Demand Leaves Bay Area Food Banks Struggling to Meet Needs – May 2022
▶ ABC7 San Franciso – April 2022
▶ CBS Bay Area, Rising Food Prices Straining Bay Area Food Banks When They Are Needed Most – April 2022
▶ NBC, Rising Gas Prices Affecting Bay Area Food Banks – March 2022
📰 SF Chronicle, Number of food assistance recipients skyrockets in S.F., other Bay Area counties – February 2022
📰 The Press, Holiday demands higher on food banks – December 2021
▶ KRON4, How to help Bay Area food banks this 2021 holiday season – November 2021
📰 Richmond Confidential, New campaign addresses food insecurity affecting 8 million Californians – November 2021
✎ Authored, An Active August Recess – August 2021
✎ Authored, Celebrating Wins for the Fight Against Hunger in CA State Budget! – July 2021
▶ Fox News, KTVU, Hunger Hits Home Initiative – January 2021
📰 Richmond Confidential, Urban farmers in Richmond are helping in the fight against food insecurity – November 2020
▶ United Nations Young Professionals, Featuring Cassidie Bates – October 2020
📰 SF Chronicle, Hunger rises in Bay Area as pandemic lingers – September 2020
📰 LA Times, Rotting food. Hungry masses. Chaotic supply chains. Coronavirus upends the U.S. food system – May 2020
📰 The Guardian, California’s food banks grapple with ‘tsunami of need’ as pandemic grows -April 2020
📰 SF Chronicle, ‘Unprecedented’: Bay Area food banks struggle to meet demand amid coronavirus shutdown – April 2020
📰 Daily Republic, Solano food bank feels effects of Covid-19 – April 2020
📰 Mercury News, Coronavirus: How Bay Area food banks are coping with critical volunteer shortage – March 2020
📰 Center for American Progress, Food Banks Face Shortages Of Volunteers; Many Bay Area Pantries Close As Coronavirus Spreads – March 2020
📰 Cal Matters, Food banks face shortages of volunteers; many Bay Area pantries close as coronavirus spreads – March 2020
📰 Times Herald, Coronavirus: How Bay Area food banks are coping with critical volunteer shortage – March 2020
✎ Authored, Breaking Down Proposed Changes to CalFresh/SNAP – February 2020
▶ Fox News, KTVU Trump administration food stamp cuts could impact nearly 200,000 Californians – December 2019
📰 Daily Republic, Food bank: Latest cut to CalFresh will increase hunger in Solano County, December 2019
✎ Authored, Food Bank Responds to Harmful Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) Rule – December 2019
✎ Authored, Get the Facts about Public Charge – August 2019

PUBLIC POLICY & ADVOCACY

★ Cassidie Bates Award & Check Presentation Acceptance Speech at Box Lunch 2023 Holiday Gala – November 2023

★Cassidie Bates named California Hunger Fighter of 2023, California Hunger Action Coalition (CHAC), 2023

★Food Bank News, 2023 Advocacy High Honor Roll, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano

★Food Bank News, 2022 Advocacy High Honor Roll

★Feeding America’s 2021 Advocacy Hall of Fame, January 2022

★Food Bank News, 2021 Advocacy High Honor Roll

★Food Bank Enters Advocacy Hall of Fame – February 2021

Public Speaking

Featured

Speaker Series 2024 Graduation, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano

Power of Community Advocates as Lived Experience Experts

Cassidie Bates Award & Check Presentation Acceptance Speech at Box Lunch 2023 Holiday GalA

▶ Conference Session, California Association of Food Banks Food Access Conference 2024, ‘Power of Community Advocates as Lived Experience Experts – Best Practices for Effective Legislative Advocacy & Trauma-Informed Care in Advocate Trainings & Engagements’ – May 2024
▶ Speaker Series 2004 Graduation, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – May 2024
▶ Cassidie Bates Award & Check Presentation Acceptance Speech at Box Lunch 2023 Holiday Gala – November 2023
★ Cassidie Bates Acceptance Speech for 2023 California Hunger Fighter Award – May 2023
▶ Speaker Series 2023 Graduation, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – May 2023
▶ Feeding America’s Best Practice Institute on Cassidie Bates, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – 2022
▶ Conference Session, California Association of Food Banks Food Access Conference 2022, ‘Centering Lived Experience and an Equity Lens for Effective Advocacy’ – October 2022
▶ Speaker Series 2022 Graduation, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – May 2022
▶ Cassidie Bates presenting Keva Dean with 2022 CHAC Award – May 2022
▶ Conference Session, Feeding America and FRAC Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, ‘Incorporating Lived Experience and Using an Equity-Lens for Effective Advocacy’ – March 2022
▶ 6th Annual Legislative Lunch, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – December 2021
▶ Speaker Series 2021 Graduation, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – May 2021
▶ Empty Bowls, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – January 2021
▶ 5th Annual, Legislative Lunch, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – January 2021
▶ Food Bank’s elected officials share importance of advancing food security during COVID, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – January 2021

Podcast & Social Features

EP27: Cassidie Bates: How Becoming an Executor at 25 as an Only Child Sparked a Mission for Bereavement and Executorship Advocacy

APPLE PODCASTS

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

Featured

Grieve Leave, My Experience with Bereavement Leave

Leadership opportunities

✦ Cassidie Bates serves as Board Member at the Bleeding Disorders Foundation of North Carolina (through the Sanford Board Leadership Initiative) – 2025

✦ Cassidie Bates serves as Vice President of Duke Sanford School of Public Policy, MPP Student Council – 2024-2025

✦ DaVinci Alumni Network, 2022 DVAN Scholarship presentation by Board President Cassidie Bates

✦ Cassidie Bates serves as CAA Liaison on Prytanean Women’s Honor Society Board of Directors – 2022

✦ Cassidie Bates serves as CAA Liaison on Prytanean Women’s Honor Society Board of Directors – 2021

✦ DaVinci Alumni Network, 2020 DVAN Scholarship presentation by Board President Cassidie Bates

✦Cassidie Bates serves as CAA Liaison on Prytanean Women’s Honor Society Board of Directors – 2020

✦ Legal Studies at UC Berkeley: Alumni Stories featuring Cassidie Bates

✦ Cassidie Bates attends 2019 #SpeechMatters Conference, Washington D.C., National Center on Free Speech and Civic Engagement

✦ Cassidie Bates graduates Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute – 2018

✦ Cassidie Bates elected President of Delta Sigma sorority at UC Berkeley – 2017

✦ SF Gate article feature “Is the world’s turmoil cutting the slowing flow of study abroad?” – 2016

MY PORTFOLIO