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Karla has been with the Corps since 2007 and has grown within her many roles to become the Program Director for the two San Fernando Valley sites. Before joining as a staff member, she was a Clean & Green participant in the late 1990s, which sparked her interest in environmental work. She became a real estate agent shortly after college serving the community where she grew up – North East San Fernando Valley – for a few years. Prior to the market crash of 2008, she had a change of heart and realized she wanted to do more in her community, particularly helping mentor young adults. She began as a Program Associate at the Griffith Park satellite office and progressed through different roles at the South LA site where she managed a multitude of projects including the CalRecycle State grants and other community beautification projects. In 2017, the Corps opened up a site in Tujunga to serve youth from the North East San Fernando Valley and Karla took on the management of this new endeavor. A year later, the site in Reseda opened its doors and both sites have thrived under her direction. She is responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing contracts ranging from food waste and mattress diversion rescue projects, fire fuel reduction, and sidewalk clean-up, to growing the tree canopies in the Valley and nearby forests.