For over nine years, Arien has been with the Trust, currently serving as Grantee Coordinator. A former elementary teacher in the Lebanon and Sweet Home School Districts, Arien understands the effects of educator burnout firsthand – which is why she has dedicated her career to improve the lives of educators.

After leaving education, Arien worked at a retirement home. In addition to supporting residents and their families from the front desk, she assisted the nurse with updating resident care plans. Arien also worked for the Oregon Oral Health Coalition for two years. As an administrative assistant, she supported staff with statewide educational programming implementation, data management, and website and newsletter development.

Arien is known for being a creative collaborator who is smart, compassionate, and a believer in using data for good. Her responsibilities include:

• Overseeing the Sustain Grant program, which provides a glide path for grantees to succeed while becoming less dependent on the Trust for funding assistance over time
• Using “best practice” thinking and organizational data to support grantees with creation of custom-tailored programming, with the understanding that every school in Oregon has unique challenges that impact educators
• Championing equity with granteees and working on integrating plain language and accessibility into both digital and print materials at the Trust
• Creation of promotional materials and grantee resources
• Collaborating with organizations to implement Wellable, a holistic well-being platform

Arien has served in many roles at the Trust. She has managed communications, social media, digital marketing, and the website; led a new grant program; and was responsible for record keeping and data management.

She received her BA in Elementary Education and Teaching from Linfield University and is a proud cat mom, artist, and would-be horticulturist of house plants. Arien is queer, disabled, Korean-American, and a first-generation graduate.