Carmen Llanes

About Carmen Llanes

I\'m Carmen Llanes and I am a lifelong community organizer and nonprofit leader from Austin, Texas. In 2024 I challenged the incumbent mayor of Austin—one of the most established and well-funded career politicians in Texas—and came a dozen votes from a runoff election. I was born and raised in Central and East Austin and earned my B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of Chicago. I\'ve worked alongside dozens of organizations and the diverse communities of Austin for the past 20 years to get common-sense solutions implemented for infrastructure, policy, programs, and initiatives that improve quality of life. My organizing career began at the environmental justice group, PODER, in East Austin, where I learned about the public and private forces that created our city’s disparities, as well as the history of grassroots efforts to improve health and quality of life East of I-35 and citywide. I later worked at Marathon Kids, where I co-created the “Wellness Team Initiative” to increase fitness and nutrition opportunities in 18 public elementary schools in Austin’s Eastern Crescent. I got to know communities in North and South Austin, and developed an understanding of issues that were so frequently ignored by city council. This experience drove me to take part in a citywide grassroots campaign in 2013 to attain geographic representation on a council that was then at-large. In 2014 I served on the inaugural Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission which created Austin\'s first geographically representative city council consisting of 10 single-member city council districts. I later served on and chaired the City’s Latino Quality of Life Commission, co-crafting equitable budget recommendations for Fiscal Years \'17,\'18, and \'19. I then joined the City’s Planning Commission for four years, lifting the voices of those threatened by exploitative redevelopment or seeking more deeply affordable housing. For the last decade, I\'ve led Go Austin/Vamos Austin (GAVA), a community organizing nonprofit addressing root causes of health disparities and increasing neighborhood stability. Together, we have successfully leveraged tens of millions of dollars in infrastructural, retail, and programmatic improvements in the Dove Springs, South Austin, Rundberg, and St. John\'s areas. In 2019, I became a fellow with the Center for Community Investment at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy which has since strengthened my networks and aptitude for leveraging multi-sector funds and resources to solve seemingly intractable challenges in housing and public health.

Experience

1. Executive Director

   Go Austin Vamos Austin

   Aug 2014 — Present

   At GAVA we work to increase access to healthy food and physical activity, address root causes of health disparities, and increase neighborhood stability in the face of increasing climate shocks & stressors and rising living costs. Together we have successfully leveraged tens of millions of dollars in infrastructural, retail, and programmatic improvements in the Dove Springs, South Austin, Rundberg, and St. John\'s areas. We’ve done this through collaboration & advocacy with thousands of residents and community leaders and dozens of organizations, governmental partners, and stakeholders.

Education

• University of Chicago

  B.A., Environmental Studies

  2003 — 2007

Skills

• Community Organizing
• Program Management
• Workshop Facilitation
• Event Planning
• Research
• Wellness
• Community Development
• Public Speaking
• Nonprofits
• Grant Writing
• Leadership
• Non-Profits
• Training
• Volunteer Management
• Fundraising
• Nutrition
• Program Development
• Community Outreach