Ariana Chavez Hayes, MA
As an Admissions Counselor, Ariana helps prospective learners navigate all parts of their admissions process—from initially imagining their desires for further training all the way through to finding the program that best serves their needs (and navigating all of the hoops, hopes, and hesitations in between).
Through previous work experience, Ariana developed a passion for walking alongside others as they wrestle with the aching questions from their communities, equipping them as they navigate the cusps and changes of life, and serving them as they step into spaces of healing and transformation. Many of the learners who come to The Seattle School share similar needs and it’s energizing to build relationships with them and catch glimpses of their hearts for their communities.
Ariana holds a BA in Religious Studies from Westmont College and an MA in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Seminary. Before starting at The Seattle School in 2020, she served women and children in trauma-affected communities, providing resources as they came out of homelessness and reimagined their futures. Much of that work hinged on compassion and creativity in the face of life’s complexities. In her current role, she is often invited into stories that carry similar themes of resilience, care, and hope.
An avid birder, Ariana is often on the lookout for those spots where the lives of birds erupt amid the silence of humanity. Her most beloved spots (so far) have been the wildflower fields of Southern California, the heather-covered moors of Yorkshire, and the cloud forests of Panama’s Volcán Barú.
She is passionate about the implications of an embodied yet broken Christ on our own trauma-formed bodies, and also the presence of God in our most vulnerable and forgotten places. Those questions have recently helped her live more into a way of life involving local missional communities, engaging diversities, and tending to the land we live on.
Ariana lives in the Rainier Valley with her husband, Philip, and their duo of dogs, Ziggy and Stardust.