Carrillo's tireless dedication to the revolution and women's movement earned her the nickname "The Red Nun" (Spanish: La Monja Roja).

[8] Through the feminist organizations which Carrillo founded, family planning programs were instituted, including legalized birth control, the first in the Western Hemisphere.

Carrillo devoted herself full-time to touring Southeastern Mexico with the goal of organizing Maya women into leagues and preparing them for civic responsibility.

[3] The leagues would identify women of special aptitude and train them to fill elective posts in the city and state government.

[5] As a lawmaker, Carrillo promoted the issue of land reform, proposing plans that would provide campesinos with farms capable of sustaining their families.

[8] She also organized local chapters of women into Gualbertista Central Agrarian Communities for Females, named after her brother Gualberto, a senator and land reform activist.

While local governments had allowed women to vote and hold office, these rights were not recognized nationally in Mexico until 1953.