Carmen Echevarria serves as chief of staff at the Carnegie Foundation. As chief of staff, Carmen manages the strategic operations of the executive team to support the Foundation’s mission.

Before joining Carnegie, Carmen was chief of staff and director of program quality for the Academy Group, where she designed and implemented operational, programmatic, and engagement strategies to increase organizational efficiency. Prior to that, Carmen worked at the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute as a program manager and Urban Labs as an operations manager. Furthermore, Carmen brings a wealth of experience from the public and private sectors and immense corporate expertise from her work at Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

Carmen is passionate about ensuring young people from underserved communities receive an excellent education, exposure, and access to the resources necessary to reach their full potential and lead purposeful lives. Carmen is on the board the Chicago High School for the Arts and the Academy Group. She also mentors youth in several Chicago city-wide programs. Carmen received her master’s in urban education from Northeastern Illinois University and a bachelor’s in sociology and English from DePaul University.