After completing his undergraduate degree in 1992, Carlos worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) for seven years. He implemented plans for soil and water conservation management, nutrient management, animal waste management, and croplands. His ultimate goal was to be a state conservationist, and he has worked all over the country for the NRCS, steadily advancing in his career and moving toward his goal.

His first role was Soil Conservationist in West Virginia from 1992 to 1994. After West Virginia, he moved to Pennsylvania to work as a District Conservationist from 1994 to 1998. He then was State Farm Bill Programs Coordinator in Indiana until 2000, when he transitioned to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  

In 2000, he started a new role as USAID’s watershed advisor. As the Watershed Advisor for USDA/USAID Hurricane Mitch Reconstruction Program, he led the implementation of a robust natural resources and agricultural infrastructure program in Nicaragua. It is here where Suarez first got interested in organic agriculture. He met several producers in Nicaragua who were transitioning from using the conventional methods of producing crops to organic production.

From 2002 to 2004, Suarez was Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations in Southwest Wisconsin. He then spent a year as Deputy State Conservationist in Nebraska. From 2005 to 2008, Suarez was Deputy State Conservationist in California. In 2008, Suarez reached his goal of becoming a state conservationist by becoming State Conservationist in Florida, where he led the implementation of Northern Everglades Wetland Restoration project and a comprehensive natural resources conservation program on private land. He worked very closely with Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers Inc. (FOG). He held the role until 2013.

The NRCS was very engaged with the organic producers in the state, looking at how they could help some farmers adopt more practices to not only transition from conventional to organic but also help others that had already been certified to add more conservation practices to sustain their organic operations. In 2009, Suarez also served at the U. S. Embassy in Mexico as the Acting Deputy Country Director for USAID.

In 2013, he moved to California to serve as State Conservationist. In this role, he has also enacted positive change by establishing the Latino Farmer Conference, which is held annually. When he first started in his current position, he noticed that agency outreach efforts were missing a large population of farm and ranch owners. 

“When you talk about Latino producers, Latino farmers, the first thought was that very important sector of our agriculture economy which is our farm workers. Yet, a lot of those farm workers have actually become owners and have become tenants of farms. They’re now leading efforts” (2005). 

Suarez and his team realized they needed to do more to provide the tools and information to enable Latino farmers, producers, and owners to take full advantage of NRCS. The idea that came forth was the Latino Farmer Conference, which is conducted entirely in Spanish. 

“It’s one of those events that I have to say I feel very proud of because our community, especially our farming community, continues to grow exponentially every year. They told us that definitely our event was right on point, that they needed to have a conference where farmers can ask questions in the language that they feel comfortable” (2005).

He joined Secretary Ross for several diplomatic service missions in Nicaragua and Mexico. As Acting Deputy Director of the U.S. Agency of International Development in Mexico for six months, he learned about Mexican resources and agriculture. In 2018, after Hurricane Maria, Suarez flew to Puerto Rico to serve as the head liaison between USDA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the USDA. In addition to working with farmers, he led the initial restoration at El Yunque National Forest.

While serving as the California State Conservationist, he was deployed on double duty in 2007 and 2013 as Acting Director for the Pacific Islands Area. This includes Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands. He has represented USDA on several international trips to The Netherlands, Israel, Australia, and Mexico to provide his water conservation and quality expertise.

Suarez describes the USDA-NRCS partnership with Resource Conservation Districts as synergistic, stating, “I have been exposed since day one to work from Resource Conservation Districts, not only for our constituents but as partners. Quite frankly, without RCDs, with all the work and all the resources that they bring to the table, NRCS would not be able to achieve the level of success in this great state” (Solomon, 2019).