A rose that grew from concrete, Carla Harris is a 25 plus year Educator, and has served as a mentor and Coach to numerous young adults. With an innate passion for education, youth empowerment and a love for basketball Coach Harris, as most call her, has honed the title "role model" due to her dedication and relentless efforts to serve the community. In  2015 Carla was awarded the Louie Bing award for community outreach.

As the the CEO and co-founder of the Hopes and Dreamers Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization that educates and empowers the youth she generously devoted her time to community service. It was through the efforts of her organization that she successfully spearheaded the S.A.V.E (Strengthen, Adore, Validate, Empower) Our Daughters symposium which serves the purpose of taking the initiative in creating a platform of open dialogue on topics like financial literacy, mental health, sex trafficking and life after high school options.