Updated: May 2007

Sol Carbonell

Associate, National Priorities

Sol Carbonell was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  In her native country, she dedicated her efforts to direct the planning and implementation of public workshops aimed at the improvement of the standard of living and children’s education.

As an Associate, National Priorities for Consumer Action, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, California, Carbonell researches general consumer issues, trends and scams.  She advocates for Latino consumers across the nation, recommending strategic alliances and partnerships with national Latino organizations. She also edits, proofreads and translates Spanish web content, publications and other educational materials. 

Carbonell also assists consumers in understanding their rights and where to seek help. She represents Consumer Action to consumers, organizations and media, producing press releases and alerts in Spanish and conducting TV, radio and newspaper interviews. While managing the Consumer Advice and Information Hotline in 2004, Carbonell investigated a fraudulent credit card offer and launched an awareness campaign through the national media.  Consumer Action received hundreds of complaints from victims. The result: the Federal Trade Commission and several state attorney generals intervened and stopped the fraud.

Carbonell currently assists in preparation of the MoneyWi$e financial literacy conferences. She conducts trainings and presentations to community-based organizations from across the country in topics such as talking to teens about money, banking basics, credit, and credit reports.

Carbonell has recently been awarded the Wisconsin Idea Fellowship for the creation of an outreach and educational campaign called Reaching Latino Consumers in Wisconsin-Partnership, Awareness and Education. The program educates Latino consumers about the most common frauds, how to prevent them and what local organizations are available for help. For her work in planning and coordinating the first two regional forums that brought together community leaders, state and federal agencies to discuss top frauds against Latinos and best fraud prevention strategies in Wisconsin, Carbonell was named one of the In Business Magazine 2006 “Top 40 under 40.”

She is a member of the American Council on Consumer Interests and has presented her work in the 2006 ACCI Annual Conference.  She is also a member of the Wisconsin Women of Color Network and the National Council of La Raza.

Carbonell studied Social Communications at the University of Buenos Aires and has obtained a BA degree in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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