 At USC, Carol Baker Tharp managed a project to map neighborhood involvement throughout the region.Before becoming the deputy director of the Civic Engagement Initiative in January 2004, she was the executive director of Coro in Southern California and was Community Relations director for Eugene, Oregon.The third general manager position of the Department of Neighborhood empowerment was filled in for an interim chief for about eleven months when Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa offered the position to her.