An Interview with our Executive Director: Teresa Arriaga

(Fall 2025) – We’re excited to be speaking with Teresa Arriaga, who joined SMART this summer as our new Executive Director. Teresa has devoted her career to helping students and families from low-income households reach their potential through education. Teresa’s previous work experience includes launching Coro Northern California’s youth leadership programs and serving at the University of California, Berkeley for a decade, where she led the Early Academic Outreach Program – a systemwide effort that supports first generation middle and high school students in their journey to college. Most recently, Teresa led Springboard Collaborative’s Western region. She earned her M.P.A from San Francisco State University and her B.A. in English and Political Science from Saint Mary’s College of California.

Hi, Teresa! How did you get into working in the education nonprofit sector?

I’ve always been a big believer in the power of education to change the trajectory of a young person’s life and, by extension, their families and communities. Both of my parents were the first in their families to earn a college degree, so I’ve witnessed firsthand the difference it can make. I’ve been really fortunate to spend my career working in low-income communities, and I’m thrilled to continue to do the work here at SMART.

What do you love about this work?

It’s really an honor to help students and families. Every family loves their child, but not every family has had the opportunity to navigate formal education in the United States or even in their home countries. To be able to be a part of that journey and to facilitate that for our Scholars is really inspiring. I truly believe in our ability to make a difference, both in terms of individual students and families, and also in terms of our City and our democracy as we develop the leaders of tomorrow.

What excited you about doing this work at SMART specifically?

After spending five years working remotely in a national organization in support of TK-3rd grade student literacy, I wanted to get back to working with adolescents – middle school and high school students. There’s something special about that age range that I really love. Also, frankly, I was really excited to be with people in person and spend time with students and families on a regular basis.

Another huge thing that enticed me about the role at SMART is our local focus. I was born and raised here in San Francisco, and my kids came up through the schools here, just like I did. It’s exciting to now work with another generation of students and their families to help them achieve their dreams.

Since I’ve been at SMART, I’ve been really energized by the people in this community. Our staff are proven professionals who care deeply about the young people that they’re working with. We’re so lucky at SMART to have attracted a committed cadre of volunteers who are devoted to our Scholars and their families –  from the board to our volunteer tutors and mentors to one-time volunteers who are key to our special events. This group makes a difference in our Scholars’ lives every day. It’s really an honor to get to know the young people who come into our doors every day and their families who care so deeply about their children and their future. It all makes me very excited to be here and proud of the work that we’re doing collectively.

What do you see as some of the challenges for SMART?

So much has changed in the world around us. One of the challenges for the organization is to continue to help our broader community keep our collective eyes on the prize and on the impact we are making, while also, as an organization, shifting as needed, as changes happen for our students and families in real time.

One of the big challenges for smaller organizations like ours is that with so many things changing externally, including significant, urgent problems that need to be solved quickly, our funders and donors are needing to make difficult decisions about where to invest. The thing with SMART is that while we’re going to see the day-to-day growth happening with our Scholars, we’re invested for the long term – 12 years – and we’re really going to see the organization’s impact when we achieve our mission of having them graduate from college.

It’s so important to continue thinking about organizations like SMART and our Scholars, because we’re literally building our shared future. Our Scholars will be leaders in industries that are important to the health of our communities, our economy, and our democracy.

What do you see as some of the opportunities for SMART?

I can say, coming here with over 25 years of experience in the field, SMART is doing all of the right things. That said, there are some specific opportunities that I’m looking forward to exploring at SMART. These include looking at how we are continuing to accelerate the academics of the students in our program, and how we are ensuring that all of our students are a grade level, if not above grade level, so that they can be competitive as they move on to the next steps in their lives.

As SMART has changed over the last almost 30 years, we’ve built up our partnership with SFUSD. We have an opportunity there to continue to support our students who are making the choice to stay in the public school system, to ensure that they are achieving at the same level as their peers. That said, I’m equally excited to continue to deepen our partnerships with independent schools across the City that share our vision of educational equity.

And then finally, we have the opportunity to continue to be a leader in this field, locally and nationally. To be able to share the good work that we’re doing, to partner with other organizations, so that we’re complementing each other and not duplicating each other, because the scale of the challenge here is huge. 

Where do you see SMART heading?

A lot of times, you hear people talk about growth, and we think about that in terms of scale. But growth can refer to depth as well as breadth. So, I’m excited for us to explore how we can continue to support our Scholars and improve on current practices. This might include increased academic support and career exploration as well as pushing into that critical transition to and through college.

SMART must continue to build essential relationships with Scholars and families – that’s our secret sauce: building trusting relationships that sustain Scholars through big life transitions. We start with our Scholars when they’re 9 years old, and if we do our jobs right, in 8 years, they’re going off to a college campus that could be hundreds of miles away from home to an environment that no one in their family has experienced. In order for students to be successful, they have to trust SMART.

I often get asked, “why are there so many college access programs?” And there are so many college access programs because, unfortunately, the scale of the problem is so large. That said, SMART has the opportunity to step into a more collaborative role with other organizations here in SF, in California, and nationally to do this work together.

Perhaps obvious, but most critically, SMART needs to continue to work on our sustainability plan. We need to continue to make sure that we’re investing in the resources, the technology, and the capacity building necessary to continue to do this work into the future, to make good on the promises we’ve made to young people when they’re 9 years old. The future needs us!

Where do you see SMART having the biggest impact in the future?

Where SMART can have the biggest impact in the future is again, looking at the depth of what we’re doing for our own students. We are continuing to support students in being successful all across their educational journey, helping the students to be at the level that they need to be to be able to compete once they graduate. We want to continue to leverage what we know, share that with others in the field, and build ongoing partnerships.

We are also exploring how our Scholars can use this City and their resources here to support their journey going forward. How can we help them explore the interesting industries that are happening around us? How can we use the technology that’s being developed, including AI, to strengthen their own academic experience? There are innovative things happening in the City of SF, and I’m excited for SMART, our Scholars, and their families to be a part of that.