General Manager Carmen Chang

Carmen Chang is the General Manager for the City of Los Angeles – Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE), or Empower LA. She brings a background in organizing and helping empower communities to be actively engaged in public and political processes while working to make systems more inclusive, with nearly two decades working on issue & political campaigns, international development, and serving in the federal government.

Previously, Ms. Chang was the Director of Programs & Organizing at Golden State Opportunity, an anti-poverty nonprofit where she led teams and executed a multi-million dollar budget to work with 40 organizations throughout the state to provide education and outreach to low-income Californians to ensure access to economic opportunities, public benefits, and to advocate for systems change at the state and federal levels. Before GSO, she was the Organizing Director at the California Immigrant Policy Center, where she earned advocacy wins including full inclusion of the CA Earned Income Tax Credit for tax filers using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) and health for all regardless of immigration status. She has been proud to have the opportunity to serve Angelenos, including through her work as a Commissioner on the Commission on Community & Family Services and Vice President of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Authority Commissioners.

Carmen worked on presidential, congressional, and local campaigns from 2008-2020 in Virginia, Nebraska, and Los Angeles. In Washington DC, Carmen was a civil servant at Peace Corps HQ and served in the Obama Administration at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Carmen is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Cameroon).

Ms. Chang holds a Masters of Public Administration from George Mason University and B.A. in Political Science & Global Studies from UCLA. She loves supporting the Lakers and Dodgers, exploring good food in LA, and world travel with her husband and two littles.