Mariela Abreu is the Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives of UP Education
Mariela is the Director of Strategic Initiatives for UP Education Network, an education management organization charged with transforming schools into exceptional learning environments, and a member of the senior leadership team. In this role, Mariela is the lead in several high priority projects including partnering with the talent team to update network wide performance evaluations, staff competencies and development systems. As UP continues to work towards becoming a more equitable and anti-racist organization, Mariela will also work in collaboration with the network team to determine how equity goals are defined and measured by each department and will codify the equity work that has been done since the launch of the priority in 2020.
Before transferring to the central office team, Mariela joined UP in 2018 as Director of Operations at UP Academy Dorchester managing the operations, family engagement, student enrollment and finances for a school of 700+ students. She subsequently went on to serve as Administrative Manager to UP’s CEO and as Director of Administration & Youth Development overseeing the operational and internal communications of the network’s central office. In the latter role, Mariela led UP’s SEL program implementation across the network to ensure that all schools had the resources and development to effectively deliver SEL instruction; she led the roll out of a CASEL aligned screener that provides teachers with measurable and actionable data to help inform their Tier 1 and Tier 2 practices, both inside and outside the classroom. Additionally, Mariela led a grant funded project to reshape UP’s approach to their highest need learners and managed the partnerships involved in the coaching for equity strategy.
Prior to UP, Mariela worked in Operations at Achievement First Network and taught 1st grade ESL for a semester. She is a certified Emotional Intelligence Coach through the Noble Story group and is passionate about coaching and developing adults on how to navigate personal & systemic barriers to realize their own potential and move confidently and unapologetically towards their future.
Mariela received her Bachelors of Science in Management and Ethics & Social Responsibility from Bentley University and her Masters in Public Administration from University of Connecticut.
