Office of the Executive Director
Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga
Executive Director
Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga serves as the Executive Director of The Education Trust–West, a research and advocacy organization focused…
External Relations
Anthony P. Chavez
External Relations Manager
Raised in the farm worker movement his grandfather founded, Anthony grew up participating in United Farm Workers’ marches, picket…
Allyson Osorio
External Relations Manager
Allyson Osorio is the daughter of immigrant parents from Central America who fled their respective countries due to political…
Andy Wong
Director of External Relations
Before joining Ed Trust–West, Andy served as the Engagement Director at Giffords – the gun violence prevention organization founded by…
Communications
Mariah Cochran
Communications Associate
Mariah joins the Education Trust–West with a range of experience in communications for social change and community engagement. With…
Government Relations
Brian Rivas
Senior Director of Policy and Government Relations
Brian has been working to improve educational opportunity for disadvantaged students in California for nearly twenty years. His career…
Manny Rodriguez
Legislative Associate
As a first generation son of immigrants, Manny strongly believes in equity and has a passion for supporting community-based…
Research & Policy Analysis
Hana Ma
Senior Policy Analyst
Hana joins ETW with experience in education policy, philanthropy, youth development, social work, and law. Prior to joining ETW,…
José Muñoz
Senior Research and Data Analyst
Before joining the Ed Trust–West team, José taught statistics as a Summer Bridge instructor while simultaneously working on his…
Dr. Christopher Nellum
Senior Director of Higher Education Research and Policy
Dr. Christopher Nellum is the Senior Director of Higher Education Research and Policy at The Education Trust—West, a civil…
Carolina Ramirez
Part-Time Qualitative Researcher
Carolina supports The Education Trust—West’s qualitative research. Her work focuses on the undergraduate experiences of marginalized students and is…
Natalie Wheatfall-Lum
Senior Policy Analyst
Since Natalie joined The Education Trust—West in 2014, she has supported the organization’s policy research, analysis, and position development,…
Leni Wolf
Senior Research & Policy Analyst
Since joining The Education Trust-West in 2013, Leni has contributed to research and policy analysis in various areas including…
Tyler Wu
Higher Education Policy Analyst
Tyler is a recent graduate from George Washington University with a Master’s in Higher Education Policy & Finance. As…
Practice
Dr. Mayra A. Lara
Senior Practice Associate
Dr. Mayra Lara joins the ETW team after ten years of classroom teaching experience in the Los Angeles Unified…
Rachel Ruffalo
Senior Practice Associate
Rachel helps inform, focus, and coordinate ETW’s work on closing achievement and opportunity gaps, working with schools and districts…
Planning, Grants & Administration
Elizabeth Calmeyer
Manager of Operations and Talent
Elizabeth has more than ten years’ experience working in both the fields of education and the environment. Most recently,…
Margaret Canto
Operations Coordinator
Margaret has an extensive background in administrative operations and executive support and has worked in both the public and…
Erika Oseguera
Grants & Special Projects Manager
Erika comes to Ed Trust – West with over 12 years of operational support experience in the private and…
Ed Trust—West Staff Contact
The Education Trust—West
Tel: 510.465.6444
Fax: 510.465.0859
For general inquiries about The Education Trust—West, please contact Margaret Canto at x300.
For information on job opportunities or internships, visit our career opportunities page.
For media inquiries, contact Jason Mandell at (213) 500-9142.
For information about research and policy analysis, including data inquiries contact Leni Wolf at x310.
For government affairs, contact Brian Rivas at (916) 761-9060.
For information about our practice work with schools and districts contact the Practice Team at x338 or x328