Ariana believes the best work comes from our souls and, like a spark bird, can fill a lifetime with love. Her approach is centered on relationship-building and possibility and she draws inspiration by what bell hooks writes in Love as the Practice of Freedom, “Choosing love we also choose to live in community, and that means that we do not have to change by ourselves.”

Ariana has fifteen years of experience in philanthropy and nonprofits and is a skilled strategist, project manager, and facilitator. She is considered a “heartbeat” because of her ability to set a natural pace and sequence for initiatives while keeping focus on a deeper purpose.

Most recently, she led collective giving and donor organizing at Rachel’s Network, facilitating resources to fight oil and gas infrastructure from Minnesota to the Ohio River Valley; mobilize student voters; build up opposition to border wall infrastructure and militarization; advance food sovereignty; support individuals and organizations during Covid-19; champion Black femme-led groups; and much more. Under her leadership, the organization’s funding grew fifteen-fold and giving to BIPOC-led groups vaulted from 0% to 100% annually.

Ariana also created and managed the Rachel’s Network Catalyst Award, which provides unrestricted, multi-year, wraparound support to mid-career women of color in the environmental movement. The award has given $1.2 million to over 100 individuals and their organizations and has radically shifted the grant-making approaches of the network’s donor base. 

Earlier in her career, she championed nonprofit standards and best practices at the American Alliance of Museums, managing their information center and providing members with customized research support. She wrote reference guides for field professionals and contributed to and edited Museum, a bi-monthly print and digital magazine distributed to over 21,000 subscribers. She also coordinated the grant-funded Museum Assessment Program. 

Ariana lives with her family in Northeast DC, on Nacotchtank and Piscataway land. Her lineage flows from Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Calabria, Bari, and Brooklyn. She is grateful to her ancestors for the gift of her life.

As an amateur birder, her spark bird is the black-crowned night-heron.