About Mónica Carlos

Monica Carlos is a seasoned project manager and community developer. With 30 years of track record in Southern California communities, Monica engages up close with local leaders to design and construct street-level improvements in underinvested neighborhoods.  Her urban planning, facilitation, construction, and project management skills are elements of local capacity-building initiatives and catalytic projects throughout Greater Los Angeles.

Monica works predominantly through the public and nonprofit sectors. During 20 years as a project manager at Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative she created and implemented LANI’s annual Community Forum training event and the LANI Maintenance Matching Fund program, each providing resources and technical tools to grassroots stakeholders working for neighborhood change.  A proponent of mom & pop commercial corridors, she managed the longstanding Byzantine Latino Quarter Business Improvement District in one of the city’s densest multicultural communities. Monica has overseen many planning and construction projects across diverse communities including Boyle Heights, Fairfax Village, Los Nietos, Rampart Village, Watts, Westmont, and others. Monica managed the outreach strategy for pedestrian planning documents in partnership with the L.A. County Department of Public Health in the County's unincorporated communities of West Athens and West Whittier.  More recently, she led the community engagement efforts for the Lakewood Equestrian Center Master Plan, establishing and leading a community project steering committee and a technical advisory committee comprised of civic leaders. This unique project addresses access and connectivity to recreational spaces, including the San Gabriel River.  Monica also led the recently completed renovation of Wilmington Town Square, a multi-million dollar community park project integrating partners including community leaders, the Council Office, the City Department of Recreation and Parks, public and private funders, architect, construction manager, and general contractor.

Prior to LANI, Monica was a ten-year project manager at Los Angeles County Development Authority, where her efforts focused on small business engagement and support of the iconic Whittier Boulevard corridor in East Los Angeles.

Monica is a born and raised Eastsider, a proud descendant of the Mexican immigrant pueblo of Simons Brick Yard.  She is inspired by her father, a fearless advocate for Latino Health Equity and the growing political empowerment of Chicanos in Los Angeles since the 60s.  Monica has a Baccalaureate in Sociology and a Masters in Urban Planning, both from UCLA. She loves authentic neighborhoods and enjoys them with her husband and two daughters whenever possible.