CHRISTA SALAZAR

Associate Director of Operations

Christa is happy to be working in her hometown of San José as BTSV’s Associate Director of Operations. In this role, Christa leads BTSV's Operations team, managing all aspects of HR and finance, and doing just a little bit of everything else to ensure that everyone on the team has what they need to do their jobs well. She's also BTSV's resident Are You Smarter Than a Breakthrough Student? trivia writer.

Christa has spent her career working in urban education, previously holding HR and operations roles at TNTP and the education news site Chalkbeat. She's also worked directly with young learners, spending a year as an America Reads tutor in a kindergarten classroom on the Lower East Side of New York City, teaching Computers for Youth’s workshops to middle schoolers in south and east Los Angeles, and volunteering with students exploring creative writing at 826LA in Echo Park. Christa earned an M.P.A. from the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy (Fight on!) and a B.A. in Politics and Journalism from New York University. She is a proud recipient of Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

If you see her wearing headphones in the office, she's probably listening to show tunes.

“The Operations team is always recruiting — I love talking to candidates and hearing their passion for this work! It's especially gratifying to see the success of former interns, Teaching Fellows, and AmeriCorps members as they pursue careers that will continue to have an impact on their communities.”