MEET ONE OF SNLP’S PROGRAM MANAGERS ARILUZ QUIÑONES

Here at Sadie Nash Leadership Project, we are so lucky to have an incredible team that allows us to become the organization of our dreams. We were fortunate to sit down with Ariluz to open our staff interview series, so the #NashFam can learn more about about the people behind the organization!

Ariluz Quiñones (they/them) is a passionate youth educator from Westchester, New York. They began their career in youth work at Rutgers-Newark as the National Program Coordinator for the Bold Women’s Leadership Network and continued that work as the Director of Racial Justice and Youth Programming at YWCA of White Plains & Central Westchester. Now a Program Manager at Sadie Nash Leadership Project, Ariluz focuses on student empowerment and staff support. Ariluz holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Smith College, is an alum of the Powherful Foundation and the Institute for Nonprofit Practice’s Community Fellows Program. Ariluz is immensely invested in creating a trans inclusive and gender affirming world.

“I came to Sadie Nash to come back home to myself and be the more authentic version of myself that I hadn’t been in the past. ”

Tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Ariana Luz Quiñones, but I go by Ariluz and my pronouns are they/them. Born in the Bronx but raised in Westchester, New York. 

I am very loudly and proudly Puerto Rican. All four of my grandparents are from Puerto Rico and I’ve had the deep honor of getting to meet all of them. Being Puerto Rican and being queer are two things that are central to my identity in terms of how I live in the world and how I understand the world. I came out as Trans about two and a half years ago, after coming out as gay when I was a teenager. So it’s been quite a journey of continuously coming home to myself. 

I’m a deeply passionate educator and it’s taken me the last two years to really refer to myself as an educator— as someone who has predominantly taught in non-traditional, non-academic places for the last seven years. I am invested in creating a better and safer world, for young Black people and young people of color, especially young queer folks— a world where they can grow up and love themselves and not have to save us from all of our past mistakes. 

I am also deeply connected to my family. To know me is to hear me talk about my parents and my brother all the time. I am a product of their deep love and intention and I’m grateful for that. I’m the youngest sibling and I take great pride in that aspect too. Justice for younger siblings! [laughs] My mom has this expansive network of women, especially Puerto Rican women, who have invested in my growth and my learning and really taught me about what it means to have a supportive community. I think that has led me to hold onto optimism because I am held by so much love. I am someone who believes they are in this world to be in service of others in meaningful ways. With youth work, I want people to love themselves with the energy and power in which they love other people and I want to be someone who can help them see that in themselves the way others did for me. That is everything. 

“If we really are answering the call of how we can support gender-expansive youth, how can we actually work to be able to do that? ”

What brought you to Sadie Nash Leadership Project?

I’ve been with Sadie Nash for a little over two years now. I came to Sadie Nash because I wanted to be doing work that was solely focused on supporting young people. At my previous job, I started a youth program but it wasn’t the main part of my job. I focused on anti-racist and equity work and did a lot of facilitation for older groups of people, often white folks in corporate settings. It grew to be exhausting. 

But, the times that brought me the most joy were my biweekly meetings with high school students. One of those young people came to be a Dean with us during my first summer at Sadie Nash! I was like– this is what brings me joy! I worked with college students before and I wanted to return to it. To me, youth work is inherently anti-racist and liberation focused work.

Sadie Nash was my chance to do more curriculum development and program design. They have generations of educators who have poured all this love into these programs and I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. I wanted to focus on youth work that was more aligned with my values and wanted to realign with myself and I felt that during my first week at Sadie Nash, my soul came back to my body. I came to Sadie Nash to come back home to myself and be the more authentic version of myself that I hadn't been in the past. 

What’s also important to know is that when I came to Sadie Nash, I came as someone who was a product of programming that was traditionally for young women. I had experienced what it was like to be in those empowerment spaces and realized that I no longer identified with the female-centered language and support. This is a vulnerable and emotional thing for me to talk about because I was all in. Growing up, womanhood was something that was so important to me and my growth. I wouldn’t become the type of leader I am today without all the women who have guided and loved me. So when I realized that I'm not a woman, it was a really hard shift for me to make peace with. Another reason I wanted to be at Sadie Nash was to help the organization shift from being young women-focused to being more expansive in how we support young trans and gender-expansive people. 

That has been my life. That has been my experience. So I also think of that when I think of Sadie Nash— that representation of shift and change and how we can think more expansively about gender. If we really are answering the call of how we can support gender-expansive youth, how can we actually work to be able to do that? 

“Some educators come in with certain ideas that young people need to subscribe to– they want to tell young people how to live their lives. That’s not what we’re here to do. We’re here to help them figure it out, guide them, support them. We’re not here to micromanage who they are. And I feel the same way about my staff.”

What has been the most memorable part of your experience so far?

Meeting other passionate educators. I think a mistake that was made about me for most of my life is that I wanted to be highlighted as this individual leader who was on the mic all the time. I love to talk. But I don't want the spotlight to be on me all the time. I deeply believe in collaboration.

My early experiences working with SNLP’s program team was so collaborative and amazing. They're all so brilliant! Everyone’s individual work comes together as a team and it’s been such a labor of love and commitment.

Being able to be in the position to mentor other young educators and help them understand what it actually means to work with teenagers and college students has felt important. A lot of it is holding space for other folks and not letting your own emotions and thoughts overdrive everything just because you’re in a position of influence or decision making. Having this opportunity meant to be cognizant of that– imagine I’m your first boss! To be able to give Deans an experience that is enjoyable even if there are struggles. To have them make a mistake and be someone who is going to say, “It’s okay,” and “We’re going to fix it together.” Some educators come in with certain ideas that young people need to subscribe to– they want to tell young people how to live their lives. That’s not what we’re here to do. We’re here to help them figure it out, guide them, support them. We’re not here to micromanage who they are. And I feel the same way about my staff.

Which Sadie Nash program are you excited about right now?

Obviously, it’s going to be ELLA. We have so much potential for our ELLA projects. We have a project proposal this year that is focused on curating a gallery exhibit. We have other projects focused on mental health, reproductive health, Latinas in STEM, on providing hygiene packages for folks, focusing on restorative justice, and a video series talking about intergenerational trauma in Black families. There are so many amazing ideas! 

This is my first cohort that has been a majority Nasher Alum and a majority New York based. During our group interview process, I asked “What makes you most excited about your project specifically and the ELLA fellowship?” Across the board, the sentiment was “Being back at Sadie Nash,” and “Sadie Nash changed my life as a high schooler.” That aspect alone has made me excited about ELLA this year. There is great power and energy behind it. 

I’m more experienced in this program now too, so we’re entering an era of more ease and more dreaming about the possibilities of ELLA. Our lead faculty for this year, Ashley Johnson, is so brilliant and I’m excited to work with her. I want our community to be learning about the projects as they’re being built so we have growing support when the final celebration comes in June. I’m so excited for this. So many people I know are like, “I’m down to be there with you and teach a session” and I think it brings new energy to it! I feel really lucky!

“Across the board, the sentiment was “Being back at Sadie Nash,” and “Sadie Nash changed my life as a high schooler.””

What do you feel young people need to thrive?

So something I talk about a lot is care, but I feel like it’s important to emphasize genuine care without material or specific expectations for young people. Something I struggled with a lot when I first started to get into youth work was how much people wanted out of young people – get good grades, have a good GPA, make sure they are applying for scholarships, that they have volunteer hours, that they’re doing community service, all of these things. But, none were focused on how they treat people. Especially themselves. How are they treating their teachers, their elders, service workers, homeless people, people who are facilitating their growth? I felt like a lot of youth work was focused on academic success. 

That’s part of the reason I came to Sadie Nash because it wasn’t focused solely on academics, but instead on leadership. Care is a big piece of it and making the time to really listen to young people and sit with them is important. We want to spend time that is not just structured around a deliverable. But if that’s what they want to do, we give them the tools. Genuine care and unwavering support are things that young people really need to thrive. 

I emphasize care, like what bell hooks talks about in “All about Love.” Love is love but if it doesn’t come with care, is it really that intentional? For me, intentionality means not setting any grand expectations for what you want for them. I want to be a person who can teach them about boundaries and respect in a way that isn’t authoritative, but that is grounded in community and collective care.

“It was the first time I was at an organization where so many people I talked to who went to these programs had good experiences. That was new for me.”

When you think of our Sadie Nash community, what comes to mind?

Generational empowerment. Specifically in regards to Nashers and folks who have poured into creating the Sadie Nash programs. When I started at Sadie Nash, I found out so many people I knew were former Nashers. I had a college friend on Facebook who said, “Omg Sadie Nash changed my life!” 

It was the first time I was at an organization where so many people I talked to who went to these programs had good experiences. That was new for me. Sadie Nash was the first place I worked at that just had generations of foundation for their programs. I think of that a lot. 

I also think that sometimes when people hear the word “empowerment” they feel like it can be a bit cheesy, but when I think about empowerment I think about alum like those who were on our Home for Activism panel. For example, ELLA alum Rana Abdelhamid, who was running for office and started her organization. She took her ELLA project and just ran with it. All of those people were empowered by Sadie Nash and then went on to empower other people in a way that was genuine and caring. 

I think that the care we instill in our Nashers, which they then go on to spread and expand, is what comes to mind when I think of the Sadie Nash community. I watched the Deans from my first summer meet-up this year and still support each other. There is community building wherever people go and that extended network is just really beautiful and impactful. It’s important for young women and gender-expansive folks. This empowerment is within the staff too. I’ve been with the team for two years and no matter where we go we have each other’s backs.