We're proud to introduce our incredible staff:
Natalie Copeland, Program Director
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Natalie was drawn to CASA because she found a passion for advocacy through volunteering in a domestic violence crisis shelter throughout high school and college. She is grateful for the incredible relationship that she had with her volunteer supervisor, and strives to be the same support system for her own volunteers!
Natalie originally joined the CASA network in Murray, Kentucky, where she served as Senior Advocate Supervisor at CASA by the Lakes. She is excited to now be living in upstate New York and started in her role as Program Director on September 29, 2025. Natalie’s energy and experience will been invaluable as we continue to focus on growing and strengthening our program. We are delighted to welcome her to our community.
Outside of CASA, Natalie loves hanging out with her friends and family, attending concerts, and traveling.
Amy Church, Advocate Coordinator
Amy Church also joined us on September 29, 2025, coming to CASA from The Wayne County DA's Office of Victim Assistance. Prior to that, her experiences have been in advocacy with individuals with developmental disabilities. Amy has a long history of volunteering and was a Service Unit manager for the Girl Scouts, recruiting leaders and members of her team.
She is described as compassionate with excellent leadership and communication skills. As she tackles the Advocate Coordinator role for CASA, she will be recruiting more volunteers and doing outreach for our program, as well as supervising our CASA volunteers.
Amy lives outside of Rochester, with her husband, two children and her dog. She enjoys spending time outside gardening or camping with her family.
Lea Hamasaki, Advocate Supervisor
Lea joined CASA in 2022 after working in a variety of social service roles for the previous 10 years, which has encompassed a wide variety of sectors, from working with teen parents to the chronically unhoused population.
Lea has personal experiences with the world of family court: from her own childhood and adolescence and then as foster/adoptive parent. These experiences have shown her the need for children and teens to have advocacy throughout the Family Court process.
Lea lives in the city of Rochester with her wife, children, a dog and several cats and is also a grandparent now.
Ashley Trott, Program Assistant
Ashley is CASA of Rochester/Monroe County's first Program Assistant, and she joined us in October 2023 as our program was growing and additional administrative support was needed.
Ashley Trott has a degree in Human Services, which she has been able to apply to this position. Formerly, she worked in the Pharmaceutical industry coordinating clinical trials. She has trained to become an Advocate and will be responsible for supporting recruitment of volunteers and visibility of the program as well administrative tasks.
Outside of CASA, Ashley loves to make memories with her family, work out, and travel.
