Our Team

Vinnie Casanova

Account Manager

Vinnie Casanova serves as an Account Manager at SAM, where he works closely with multiple associations to deliver high-quality results. He joined SAM in 2023, bringing more than 15 years of learning and development, leadership, and strategic planning experience in the nonprofit world. 

Before joining SAM, Vinnie served as the learning and development coordinator at Communities in Schools, where he created pathways for employees for further career growth, development, and success. He also served as a human resources specialist for Epic Movement, providing coaching and professional development for teams across the country. Prior to that, he served as a director of leadership development at North Village.

Vinnie earned his bachelor's degree in marketing from Baylor University and has completed the Undoing Racism Workshop and Courageous Conversations: Beyond Diversity program. He is passionate about creating partnerships that are mutual and equitable, building inclusive systems, and cultivating learning spaces that ask questions, prompt reflection, and inspire change.

Vinnie spent most of his life in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Upon graduating from Baylor in Waco, he spent 2 years working overseas in Thailand. He moved to Austin more than a decade ago.

Partners: Texas Alliance of Energy Producers (The Alliance), Texas Psychological Association (TPA)

Family: Vinnie is married to Kimberly, and they have two bright, energetic, growing kids, Clara and Vince.

Outside of work, I love... improv, listening to jazz records, reading, writing, running, good coffee, and dreaming about the mountains and cool weather.

My workplace superpower is... creativity! It excites me to challenge myself to see beyond the “either/or” into the “both/and” and help build systems that are inclusive and equitable for all involved.  

Assessments: Guardian (Predictive Index)

My unique skills or passionsI’m a big-picture thinker who is driven by vision and values. Where we're headed and who we aim to be as we move there motivates me when I'm in the details and sometimes difficulty of the day-to-day. I'm also passionate about creating equitable partnerships that acknowledge, honor, and include all the stories and voices in the room, especially those from marginalized communities.

Favorite SAM core value: Practice empathy. Everyone has a story and is a person in-process. Practicing empathy helps me to slow down, ask questions, and consider the whole person or persons that I’m partnering with.