Karla Cordero currently serves as Chief of Staff at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, where she guides the organization's strategic direction and change management efforts in alignment with its mission, while fostering a culture of collaboration and teamwork. Prior to joining WE ACT, Karla spent 12 years in New York City government, developing and implementing policies and programs that served underserved communities across social services, sustainability, and economic development. Her work included establishing an emergency food reserve program, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that delivered more than 18 million meals to New Yorkers, overseeing contracts that provided client-centered services to more than 50,000 New Yorkers, and spearheading large-scale sustainability and resiliency projects across the city. Karla is a native New Yorker and holds a BA in Political Science from Fordham University and an MPA from Baruch College's Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. As both a parent of a NYC public school student and a teacher's spouse, Karla brings a personal, day-to-day understanding of the school system to her appointment to the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP).