Carlos Collard transformed private sector experience within both a large and small company
into local government and community leadership and is currently on the city of Santa Monica
leadership team that oversees the city’s parks, beach, and pier. Carlos has been appointed to
commissions by a Los Angeles city councilmember, a Los Angeles mayor, and a Los Angeles
County supervisor and led volunteers to launch Los Angeles’ South Robertson Neighborhoods
Council, which was recognized as a model council out of a system of nearly 100 during his time
as board president. Neighborhood council board members are public officials elected to office
by the community, and Carlos was one of 10 neighborhood council leaders who advised the
mayor of Los Angeles on best practices.

Learning from diverse people is essential to Carlos. To honor this and promote small
businesses and immigrant entrepreneurs, Carlos ate 40 different cuisines in 40 consecutive
days within a 40-mile radius of UCLA and documented it daily with one-minute videos on his
social media. He has visited 38 countries, some of which he has been invited to as a guest
speaker or to lead projects. As an 11-year citizen diplomat for U.S. State Department exchange
programs, Carlos has hosted over 150 exchange participants from over 70 countries in Los
Angeles and San Francisco and is a board member of Gulf Coast Diplomacy in Pensacola,
Florida.

Carlos is a former Los Angeles County foster youth and has served as board president of
California Youth Connection, a statewide nonprofit that provides leadership and advocacy
training for foster youth. He continues to support foster youth locally through various
organizations and abroad as an International Foster Care Alliance advisory board member.
Carlos is a first-generation college graduate and has chaired committees for UCLA and served
on its alumni association board of directors.