Carol's Biography:
As a daughter of immigrants, Carol grew up in a small town, Perris, CA, in the Inland Empire. Her passion for politics formed at a young age through her participation and activism in various marches and protests for immigration reform in Los Angeles, CA.
As a first-generation American, she launched her leadership capabilities at her high school. She became the first student elected for two terms as student body president, held voter registration drives, and helped change school suspension policies for tardy students. She then brought her passion and leadership to Sacramento.
As a college student, she led lobby days through Lobby Corps, where she advocated against the CSU tuition increase, among other basic needs policies. Meanwhile, she also worked as a student assistant at the Secretary of State's Office Elections division, overseeing and supporting voter registrations and Spanish language inquiries.
She also worked on various political campaigns, from local school boards to congressional races. She fundraised for the Committee for Hispanic Causes [CHC] BOLD PAC in Washington, DC, and then worked for Planned Parenthood Government Affairs in 2018, gaining a more robust understanding of the legislative process and tracking legislation related to women's health.
Carol earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Communications Studies, focusing on Persuasive Rhetoric from California State University, Sacramento. Carol has served on various community-led organizations and boards, including a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to mentoring high school Latinas, Advancing Latinas into Leadership.
Carol is a proud alumnus of nonpartisan organizations, including the New Leaders Council and New Leaders of America, and most recently accepted to the Hispanas Organized for Political Equality Leadership Institute. She is also a member of the Institute of Governmental Advocates (IGA), a voluntary, nonpartisan association representing the leading professional lobbyists and lobbying firms in California's Capitol, and a proud member of the CA Latino Capitol Association and Capitol LGBTQ Association.
Carol registered as a lobbyist for Strategic Education Services, where she served as their Senior Legislative Advocate, leading advocacy and consulting activities for over a dozen clients for five years.
Carol has started her own lobbying firm. Her background and knowledge of the legislative, budget, and political processes give her a unique perspective to serve her clients.
A few legislative and consulting examples:
Lobbying:
On behalf of the Los Angeles Community College District, most recently in 2023, she strategized, managed coalition outreach, and lobbied for AB 1096-Fong: Increased Access to Native Language Instruction. She also helped secure the expansion of the California College Promise to include returning students to provide a pathway to a no-cost associate degree for all full-time students in the 2022 budget. She also led and advocated for their ethnic studies requirement and worked with the California Community College Chancellor's Office to approve a Title V regulation in 2021. During the pandemic in 2020, she led efforts to support key legislation, including ACA 5-Weber: repeal of Proposition 209, AB 101-Medina: Ethnic studies high school graduation requirement, AB 1460-Weber: CSU ethnic studies graduation requirement. In 2019, she supported the district by preparing key reports for their subcommittees and organizing coalition support for AB 2-Santiago: Established the Community Colleges California College Promise Program.
On behalf of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, Carol led the statewide policy agenda, where she also led a "Latina Action Day" with over 1,000 participants at the Sacramento Convention Center and trained them for legislative meetings with members and staff in the Capitol. She also drafted and led the advocacy efforts for SB 702-Limon: Gubernatorial Appointment Transparency and AB 368-Holden: College and Career Access Pathways access bill, which the Governor signed.
On behalf of the Los Rios Community College District, she helped secure funding for the Los Rios Prison and Reentry Education Program to expand student services to currently and formerly incarcerated students throughout the region in 2022. She also led and organized training and advocacy days for their student leaders.
Consulting:
On behalf of the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation, Carol developed strong contacts with the Latino, Asian Pacific Islanders, and the Legislative Black Caucus while managing their caucus foundation grants.
On behalf of the Education Coalition (an affiliation of statewide education management and labor organizations that regularly convene to reach consensus on major K-12 budget issues), Carol helped develop the coalition's budget letters to key legislators. She set agendas, guest speakers, and presentations for their meetings. She also led the work of their Racial Justice Committee after 2020, which worked to break down structural racism in the state's educational system.