Carla Cariño is a high school Social Studies educator who teaches 11th grade Civics, AP United States Government and Politics and Ethnic Studies at North High School in the Denver Public School District. She was one of the inaugural members of the Colorado Commissioner’s Teacher Cabinet, the state's education commissioner’s teacher advisory board. She has also done work as a member of the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Civics Standards Revision and Review Committee, the CDE DLRT recruitment and retention of teachers of color team, the Civics Curriculum Review Committee for Denver Public Schools, a Social Studies district team specialist and is currently focused on creating a liberated Ethnic Studies department at her school using frameworks such as Lyripeutics. She earned a BA in American Studies, a teaching certificate, and an MA in Instruction and Curriculum from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her work with the RAP Lab has by far been some of the most important and meaningful work she has pursued during her 24 years in public education.