Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D., joined the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin as managing director in May 2021. She previously served as the executive director of The Education Trust—West, a national research and advocacy nonprofit organization committed to educational justice for students of color, students from low-income communities, and English learners. As a lifelong math lover, researcher by training, and advocate by blood, Elisha is fiercely committed to increasing opportunities in STEM for students of color. She has served on numerous committees, boards, and taskforces—among them University of California’s Provost Advisory Council on Educational Equity, CSU’s Steering Committee on Academic Preparation and Quantitative Reasoning, University of California’s Test Feasibility Study Steering Committee, and the Launch Years Consensus Panel.