Ariana Carella

Ariana Carella serves as the inaugural Network Weaver for Root to Flourish Collective (R2FC), where she leads programming including coaching and supporting individuals and organizations to transform the environmental sector towards full belonging. A skilled strategist, facilitator, and community builder, she is considered a “heartbeat” due to her ability to keep a steady pace, rhythm, and sequence for initiatives, while always keeping focus on purpose and love.


Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, she started her career at the Brooklyn Museum and continued in museum education, impact, and advocacy at the American Alliance of Museums where she worked in communications and member research. She later transitioned to women’s leadership and environmental philanthropy, leading donor organizing and network engagement at Rachel’s Network. There, she resourced frontline organizations across the country on a variety of environmental issues and created the Catalyst Award, which provided over $1.2 million unrestricted, multi-year, wraparound support to mid-career women of color across the movement. With a focus on just and equitable philanthropy, her leadership led to the organization’s funding growing fifteen-fold and giving to BIPOC-led groups vaulting from 0% to 100% annually. Most recently, Ariana led Spark Bird Group, a boutique consulting firm helping arts and environmental nonprofit and philanthropic organizations grow, plan, and evolve. Ariana has a B.A. in Art History and English, Cultural Studies from McGill University in Montréal, QC and currently serves on the steering committee of Oasis: A Green Equity Collective. She was formerly involved in the Rainmakers Giving Circle (now defunct) at the Washington Area Women’s Foundation.


In her free time, Ariana enjoys artistic and comedic expression, feeding people, biking, and play, including Dungeons & Dragons with her 6-year old and his friends! She also loves being in nature: critter-watching by estuaries; meditating in forests; surrendering to ocean waves; and more. She lives with her family in Northeast DC, on Nacotchtank and Piscataway land, and her lineage flows from Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Calabria, Bari, and Brooklyn. She is grateful to her ancestors for the gift of her life.