Riley McIsaac

Riley McIsaac serves as the inaugural Director of Grants Development in the Office of Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives at The University of Arizona (UA). In this role, Riley leads strategy and implementation of grants and research development activities that support the UA's designation as a HSI. Riley is passionate about finding innovative ways to remove systematic barriers that block equitable access to education and creating pathways to success for underserved students. In her first three years in this role, HSI Initiatives directly supported the development of proposals resulting in $26M in successfully funded awards. 

Riley has worked in higher education for over 14 years, serving in various capacities including grants administration, project and program management, and research lab management. Prior to her tenure at UA, Riley worked in refugee resettlement and foreign exchange.  She holds her B.A. from McGill University, where she double majored in Sociocultural Anthropology and English Literature, and an M.A. from UA in Latin American Studies, focusing on U.S. - Mexico border issues and immigration. She has lived in Ecuador and Peru and is fluent in the Spanish language.