Hi, I’m
Ariel Matz
For more than fifteen years, I've worked alongside students, families, educators, employers, and community organizations to create environments where individuals with disabilities can learn, contribute, and belong.
I began my career with Teach For America after graduating from Emory University and later earned my Master's in Special Education from Loyola Marymount University. Over the next fifteen years, I served as a special educator, instructional coach, and Equity Lead in Fairfax County Public Schools, eventually becoming a leader at the S. John Davis Career Center, one of Virginia's premier transition programs for young adults with disabilities. There, I completed advanced training through VCU's Center on Transition Innovations, deepening my expertise in person-centered planning, customized employment, and supported employment.
When my family moved back home to Pittsburgh, I knew I wanted to bring everything I'd learned with me—and help strengthen the community that help raise me.
Today, through Ariel Matz Consulting, I partner with organizations to turn a vision for inclusion into meaningful action. My work includes designing employment initiatives, developing workplace readiness programs, facilitating professional development, strengthening educational and community supports, and building partnerships that create lasting opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
I'm proud to collaborate with organizations including The JCC of Greater Pittsburgh, Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh, Bunny Bakes, The Branch (Sally & Howard Levin Clubhouse), and The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Together, we've launched innovative employment initiatives, strengthened adult services, created workplace training programs, and developed The Collab—a community-wide partnership expanding social opportunities for adults with disabilities across Pittsburgh.
I believe our communities are stronger when everyone belongs, that everyone has something valuable to contribute and that inclusion should feel natural—and I'm grateful to spend each day helping make that vision a reality.