Welcome to the CAS Staff Spotlight, a column featuring members of the CAS staff. For this spotlight, we are proud to introduce you to Matt Caruso.
- What do you do at the CAS? I recruit and place volunteers in all CAS need areas with the help of my invaluable coordinator, Catie Amsden, and support from the Committee on Volunteer Resources. Other assorted hats I wear include supporting the CAS Regional Affiliates, working with the New Members Committee to integrate new Fellows and Associates into the Society, assisting the Leadership Development Committee in its many endeavors, and making sure every event and reception at the Spring and Annual Meetings goes as planned.
- What do you enjoy most about your job? I love meeting members in person whom I have gotten to know through email and teleconferences. I spend much of my work day on the phone with committee members, chairs and Regional Affiliate officers, so it is genuinely fun to make in-person connections at a meeting, especially if they are happy to meet me!
- Hometown: The Carusos hail from the south end of Hartford, Connecticut. Before working at the CAS, people would often ask, “Are you in insurance?” I would respond that just because I am from Hartford does not mean I have anything to do with insurance. Oh, the irony.
- College and degree: Arizona State University, B.A. in history (awarded outstanding graduating senior); and Arizona State University, B.A. in political science.
- First job out of college: I was an intern at a political nonprofit looking to eliminate corruption in politics. It was an uphill battle.
- Describe yourself in three words: Gregarious, dedicated, fervent.
- Favorite weekend activity: My favorite thing to do is to throw on a backpack and hike into the mountains. I grew up hiking the Berkshires of Connecticut and Massachusetts. While in Arizona, I hiked through the Sonoran Desert, ponderosa pine forests and red rock canyons. Now that I live in Washington, D.C., I hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Along the trail I have encountered bears, rattlesnakes, moose, a javalina, a badger and too many people wearing really expensive REI gear.
- Favorite travel destination: I love southeastern Alaska. There is something special about a place where bald eagles are as prevalent as pigeons in New York. In 2004 I spent a dream week in the town of Sitka on Baranof Island watching sea otters and humpback whales; I even caught a 35-pound king salmon that local fishermen still talk about. But the highlight was climbing Mt. Edgecumbe, an ancient volcanic island right out of a James Bond movie. Since I was the only man in the group, I was asked to carry the shotgun in case of a grizzly bear attack. It’s a good thing that nary a bear was to be seen, as the sight of me with a shotgun is so ridiculous and unintimidating that a bear would’ve found it hilarious.
