Casey Atkins was born in the United States and spent her early years on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She subsequently lived half her life overseas in a variety of different countries from Peru to Germany to China. She studied photography at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine and completed her masters in photojournalism at Boston University.

Casey is currently based in Boston and works as a multimedia manager for Campaign Legal Center where she oversees production of the organization’s award-winning podcast Democracy Decoded, as well as videos, graphics and other digital media products. She previously spent over eight years working as a freelance photographer and filmmaker and also occasionally taught visual journalism classes at Boston University.

Casey is also a director of Women's Worth, Inc., a nonprofit which provides business skills training to low-income women in Nicaragua. Casey first visited Nicaragua in 2015, when she began working with women entrepreneurs. She was inspired by her experience and has returned each year to continue working in the country.