Leveraging As If with Mary Anne Arcilla

Too many times we wait and wait and wait for permission - to speak, to act, to grow.  This practice is about “proceeding until apprehended”, acting as if where you are headed has already been realized.  Mary Anne’s story is a lifetime practice of “As If”.  From being a girl with self-doubt whose mom instilled “What do you mean you can’t do that?” moxie, to end up leading a state with 6.2 million kids from No. 2 pencil testing to online in one year  - Mary Anne has not waited for  permission from others to become amazing. Get ready to be inspired to do the same!

Mary Anne Arcilla is the Executive Director for the Education Testing Service (ETS) for California’s K-12 Programs.  She has over 30 years of experience in the K-12 education field having managed and directed several research and large-scale assessment programs. In her current role, she has overall strategic and business responsibility for the K-12 education and testing activities supporting over 6.2 million students in California. She has worked with California educators and the California Department of Education to meet state and stakeholder goals while overseeing major transitions of two key statewide assessment programs from paper-pencil testing to computer-based testing and reporting. Mary Anne first joined ETS in 2007 as an associate director for the California STAR program, where she provided end-to-end program management oversight.

 Prior to joining ETS, Mary Anne worked with the American Institutes for Research as a research scientist and a senior management specialist in the Education Assessment division.  Key areas of professional talent are strategic development, project management, team building, cost estimating and cost control, specializing in multi-million dollar Federal and state government contracts.

Mary Anne obtained her B.A. in Psychology from San Francisco State University.  She lives with her family in Roseville, California, north of Sacramento.