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Carmen Rojas

Carmen Rojas

Marguerite Casey Foundation

Seattle, WA USA

"Ask for help."

Career Roadmap

Carmen's work combines: Non-Profit Organizations, Politics, and Upholding a Cause and Belief

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Day In The Life

President & CEO

I support nonprofit organizations doing racial and economic justice work.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Politics

    University of California, Santa Cruz

  • Doctorate

    City and Regional Planning

    University of California, Berkeley

Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a President & CEO:

Bachelor's Degree: Politics

Doctorate: City and Regional Planning

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life has been direct

  • 1.

    In high school, I realized the inequalities faced by people of different races and it inspired me to want to find a career where I could help rectify that.

  • 2.

    I earned my bachelor’s degree in politics and then continued on to graduate school.

  • 3.

    Before starting my doctorate, I got the opportunity to work for a very wealthy couple that wanted to give their money away to good organizations—that job opened a lot of doors for me.

  • 4.

    Since then, I worked a set of jobs that built my skills up in money management and really taught me how to move money around to benefit the most people.

  • 5.

    For the past 20 years, I’ve worked with nonprofit organizations, financial institutions, and foundations to improve the lives of working people across the country.

  • 6.

    In 2014, I co-founded an innovation lab called The Workers Lab, which helps workers successfully develop new ideas.

  • 7.

    I now work as the president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, which supports organizations doing good work in the racial and economic justice space through funding.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Peers:

    There's a ceiling for what you can do. You can't dream bigger than that.

  • How I responded:

    There have been a lot of people who've told me that I can't dream bigger than what I was already doing because of where I came from and what my parents did. But that's not true. I had the same amount of people who really supported me, let me make mistakes, and helped me learn.