Cassandra Jessica Nudel is a writer, educator, social justice advocate, and nonprofit consultant. As an advocate for disability rights, she has created social justice projects throughout Virginia.

Programs she has designed and co-founded include: a statewide mental health disability rights network, a recovery education training program, a mini-grant program for self-help projects, a statewide peer-to-peer recovery survey, and a collective of grassroots mental health programs.

Her work in disability rights began after her own experience of being homebound for five years and living in solitude in a rural area in upstate New York.

Cassandra is the author of the guidebook The Grant Seeker’s Treasure Map & Orienteering Guide and she has raised over $2 million in grants for grassroots programs. She currently serves as a Grant Writing Mentor for mental health advocates.

Her past experiences with diverse cultures include working with gay and lesbian and women's causes; designing educational programs for Korean immigrants; teaching community health & women's health in up-scale New York medical schools and remote Brazilian villages; and living and traveling in India, Nepal, & Eastern Europe.

She is also an award-winning writer with publications in over 30 magazines and literary journals, and her documentary photography has been exhibited at The Smithsonian Institute and The National Library of Congress.