Aryan leads the DC External Affairs team. She oversees local and national advocacy and influence initiatives, fosters strategic partnerships and growth, and spearheads communications in support of our programmatic strategies and mission.
Aryan is committed to working in education because she firmly believes that a quality and equitable education is an inherent right for all students and families.
Prior to joining Flamboyan Foundation, Aryan served as the director of partnerships and engagement for My School DC, the District’s public school lottery program, at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). She led the citywide engagement efforts in partnership with parents, schools, communities, and government stakeholders to equip DC families with the resources needed to make informed school choices. Before her time with OSSE, she led the District in its implementation of the DC Language Access Act of 2004 at the Office of Human Rights (OHR). In her capacity as the city’s first Language Access Director, she worked with local agencies and community coalition partners to ensure equitable access to services for the city’s limited and non-English speaking residents. She later managed the operations of a policy advocacy coalition at Humanity United, a human rights foundation working to end human trafficking and slavery.
Aryan earned her Master of Public Administration from the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University, and a dual Bachelor’s degree in Government and Politics and Communications from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Outside of Flamboyan, Aryan’s family is her rock, especially her husband and nutty rescue pup. Her happy place is the water, and she absolutely loves Ethiopian food. Connect with Aryan on LinkedIn.
My favorite teacher in school was… There are three! My middle school English teacher (who was also my high school theater teacher), Mr. Walsh, for challenging me to live life creatively, with endless possibility, and with humor. My high school history teacher, Mr. Morrison, for encouraging (and sometimes outright demanding) we critically think about history, its implications, and its consequences. And my high school English teacher, Ms. Flanagan, who fueled my love for writing.