Carmencita is a member of the Government Relations Department. She provides strategic public policy advice to clients primarily in the financial services and housing sectors before the U.S. Congress and executive branch agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Department of Treasury, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Prior to joining Brownstein, Carmencita served as the staff director for the Senate Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development and as the principal advisor on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to United States Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY). During the 109th Congress she held the position of Minority Staff Director for the Senate Subcommittee on Economic Policy. For four years, Carmencita was responsible for issues including banking, financial institutions, securities and commodities markets, economic and monetary policy, CFIUS, insurance, consumer protection, housing and community development, and trade.

Carmencita previously worked as a Leadership Education Counselor for Gates Millennium Scholars Program/UNCF, a $1 billion initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. At GMS, she designed the Leadership Development Program, funding strategies, and authored the manual on program policies and procedures.

In 2000, Carmencita worked in Geneva, Switzerland at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations specialized agency. At WIPO she completed a rotational assignment in the Arbitration and Mediation Center and the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Unit. In the Arbitration Center she administered domain name dispute resolution cases and in the LDC Unit she researched the relationship between foreign direct investment, intellectual property and the TRIPS Agreement.

Carmencita also serves as a member of the firm’s Inclusiveness and Diversity Committee.