Bio

Carlos Rodriguez is a community organizer in Los Angeles.

Prior to joining Innovate, Carlos oversaw community involvement efforts at Verbum Dei High School in Watts, California. From 2011 to 2013, Carlos was a volunteer with Jesuit Volunteer Corp in Santiago, Chile, where he worked on community development efforts and was an advocate on issues related to education and homelessness. He was previously a community organizer with L.A. Voice, where he worked with communities across Los Angeles on immigration, education, and economic justice efforts.

A native of Los Angeles, Carlos holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University and a master’s degree in Public Administration from New York University.

…sparked my passion for educational equity and social justice.

My calling to walk with my community in confronting systems rooted in racism …

I’m passionate about ______ because ______.

I’m passionate about organizing because I see it as one of the most powerful tools to stretch our democracy in a way that it includes the voices of working class black and brown communities.

What I love most about our work is …

…the organizing cycle’s mutuality, which has us both teaching leaders organizing and growing – professionally and personally – through our relationship with them.

Inspiring Quote

“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for to the creator there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.” – Rainer Maria Rilke