Carmen is the director of the Silent Procession for Puerto Rico. She is also a curator and interior designer, who was born in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico and raised in the Bronx from the age of five. She was a member of the curatorial team for the "Harrises of Harlem Show: Eight Generations," a WWSH photo exhibition. Art and anything that entailed creativity was evident at an early age. From the moment she held a pencil, she was always drawing. However, coming from a very political family (her father was mayor of Juana Diaz) Carmen decided to focus less on art and more on political activism by joining Mayor John Lindsay’s campaign. That led to her involvement in the war against poverty and community involvement throughout New York City, always with the intention of ensuring that Puerto Ricans receive all rights as US citizens, as well as the right to preserve their culture and heritage.

Carmen majored in social services at the Columbia School of Social Work, but realized that her heart was in the creative field. After earning a BFA degree, she curated numerous Latin artists’ exhibits in colleges, alternative spaces, and created exhibit spaces, e.g., the School of Labor Relations at Cornell University in New York City, Sawdon and Bess Advertising Agency, Wendy’s, and the Museum of Caribbean and Hispanic Art (MOCHA) in SoHo. Carmen made history by curating the first exhibit of Latin artists in the show, “Affinity: Seven Latin Artists at the Wooster Gallery, a commercial SoHo gallery. She earned as MFA from the School of Visual Arts.

For many years Carmen worked in advertising as an art buyer and senior account executive. She later opened her own business, On The Money Interior Design, which included general contracting and residential/commercial design. Today the company operates on a consultant basis.

Despite all of the twists and turns of her journey through life, one thing has remained the same, and that is preserving the Puerto Rican culture and heritage, and offering her support for other communities to do the same for their culture and heritage.