Mrs. Isabel Cosio Carballo is the Executive Director of the South Florida Regional Planning Council. During her 29+ year tenure at the Council she has held positions of significant responsibility. Throughout her lengthy career, a primary focus of her work has been the creation of collaborative, broad-based partnerships with public and private sector, non-profit, philanthropic, and community leaders to identify areas of opportunity and address issues of regional concern such as transportation, affordable and workforce housing, education, access to opportunity, the environment, and the development of small business and brownfields remediation /redevelopment revolving loan programs.
In 2009, she spearheaded and organized, in collaboration with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and other regional stakeholders, the Southeast Florida Regional Partnership and its successful application to the U.S. HUD Inaugural Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program. In October 2010, Southeast Florida was named one of 45 inaugural “Sustainable Communities” securing $4.25 million for the seven-county regional planning and capacity building process. Completed in 2014 and matched by more than $2.3 million in local contributions followed by subsequent federal investment, the Seven50: Southeast Florida Prosperity Plan laid the groundwork for the region’s future development, prosperity, and sustainability.
More recently the SFRPC spearheaded the South Florida Military Installation Resilience Review which studied South Florida’s military installations’ vulnerabilities “outside the fence line” in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe counties to enhance the mission readiness of four South Florida Military Installations critical to U.S. national security and defense. Undertaken in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, the three counties, municipal governments, and regional and state stakeholders, this effort has resulted in state and federal investments to enhance the mission readiness of South Florida’s key military installations. In recent years, the South Florida model was expanded throughout the State of Florida to encompass Military Installation Resilience and Mission Readiness Reviews in Tampa Bay, Emerald Coast, East Central Florida, and Northeast Florida spearheaded by their respective Regional Planning Councils.
Prior to joining the Council in 1996, Mrs. Cosio Carballo served as chief of staff and legislative assistant to now Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, and legislative liaison for Broward County. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the McComb School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Public Administration from Florida International University where she graduated with an Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Master of Public Administration. She proudly serves as a board member of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, Beacon Council in Miami-Dade County, Broward County Climate Change Task Force, Broward County Water Advisory Board TAC, and Coordinating Council of Broward. She also serves as an ex-officio member of the Miami-Dade County EAR Review Task Force as an appointee of Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. She is greatly honored to have been recognized by Miami Today News in 2016 and 2025 in their annual award “Book of Leaders”.