Faculty Fellow
Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D. has over 20 years of experience in leading for profit and nonprofit social impact organizations. Elisha has utilized philanthropy, research, and advocacy as levers for change throughout her career.
Dr. Smith Arrillaga is the founder and President of Student Success Solutions, a strategy consulting firm and an Associate Professor of Practice in the Education Policy Program in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin where she teaches classes on the intersection of education policy and philanthropy. Most recently, she also led work to change K-12 and postsecondary math education policy in over 35 states while serving as the Managing Director of the Charles A. Dana Center, a national center on STEM equity at The University of Texas at Austin. She also led several statewide research and advocacy initiatives as the Executive Director of the Education Trust—West, the California branch of a national research and advocacy nonprofit committed to educational justice for students of color, students from low-income communities, and English learners.
Dr. Smith Arrillaga has taught at both the K-12 and postsecondary levels. She has led large-scale policy change efforts at the Foundation for California Community Colleges, Careers Ladder Project, the Hewlett Foundation, Mathematica Policy Research, and numerous other organizations. Dr. Smith Arrillaga has served on numerous committees, boards, and task forces—among them are the Google Equitable Artificial Intelligence Research Roundtable, the US Department of Education Technical Working Group on Data Science Education, and the University of California ACT/SAT Feasibility Steering Committee. She has given numerous keynote speeches, authored dozens of publications and is often interviewed by media outlets, including the LA Times, USA Today, and CNN.
Dr. Smith Arrillaga holds a doctorate from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, a Master of Science in Survey Methodology from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Smith College.