Paula is a leader throughout the Lake County community. She is the vice president of Mosiac House Ministries and serves on the City of North Chicago's Planning and Zoning Commission. Paula has served as president of her local Exchange Club as well as on the boards of the Lake County Navy League and the Lake County State's Attorney's Citizens Advisory Board.

 

Paula took the relationship her Exchange Club had established with the WWII Black Navy Veterans of Great Lakes to the next level in 2011 by organizing a trip to Washington, D.C., to see the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial along with the other memorials. In April 2012, the Exchange Club of North Chicago took six local veterans on their own "honor flight-type" trip to Washington, D.C. Shortly after that, she received the "Presidential Award of Honor" and "Recognition of Outstanding Service" from the Exchange Club of North Chicago, Illinois.

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She has received numerous awards, including the Rotary Humanitarian Patriot Award, the Recognition for "Hispanics Serving and Leading Our Nation with Pride and Honor", entered into the Congressional Record, House of Representatives, honoring the Rotary Club of North Chicago, Illinois, and their Humanitarian Patriot Honorees, the Royal Blue Dove Award for Community Service, the 10th Illinois Congressional District Helping Heroes Leadership Award, the Excellence in Community Service award from the Daughters of the American Revolution Ansel Brainerd Cook Chapter, the Latinx Community Awards presented by Wintrust Community Banks in 2022, and the 2023 North Shore Corvette Club Recognition for service to the Lake County Illinois veterans.

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The Spanish Reclama Newspaper, the Lake County News Sun, and the Chicago Tribune have all featured articles about Paula's leadership and volunteerism. The Chicago Tribune published an article about Paula in a special edition titled "Difference-makers." Paula Carballido’s support of veterans is simple: "We must take care of those who served; we owe it to them and to our country." Paula recognizes that serving veterans and the community well requires planning, inclusion, communication, and trust.