Trudy T. Arriaga, Ed.D. began her career as a bilingual paraeducator and enjoyed 40 years of service in education as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director, superintendent, and university instructor. She served the Ventura Unified School District for 14 years as the first female superintendent. Trudy retired as superintendent in July 2015 and was honored by the naming of the VUSD District Office, The VUSD Trudy Tuttle Arriaga Education Service Center. She is currently on the Cal Lutheran University faculty in the Educational Leadership Department in the Graduate School of Education. Trudy has received numerous statewide ACSA awards and was most honored to receive the ACSA Marcus Foster Memorial Award in 2013. Trudy has served as the co-chair of the New Superintendent Seminar Series for ten years and is honored to work with first-year superintendents throughout California. Trudy is the co-author of Opening Doors: An Implementation Template for Cultural Proficiency with her esteemed colleague, Dr. Randall B. Lindsey. Her second book, “Leading While Female: A Culturally Proficient Response to Gender Equity”, released in March, 2020 and co-authored with Dr. Delores Lindsey and Dr. Stacie Stanley offers a counter-narrative and strategies to overcome the barriers of women in educational leadership precedes her third book My Leading While Female Journey published in 2022. Trudy has joined numerous districts in building strong governance teams to ensure the success of each and every student. It has been her privilege to assist educational institutions throughout the United States to align the actions of the organization with their stated values and principles in their effort to build a culturally proficient and inclusive organization.
