Who We Are
Areté was founded on three core principles: Fulfillment. Excellence. Individuality.
Fulfillment
The ancient Greek used the term areté to mean excellence of any kind, especially a person fulfilling their highest potential. At Areté, we strive to help exceptional individuals achieve their hopes and dreams by educating, strategizing, and guiding them through the process of identifying and obtaining the supports and services they uniquely need to realize their best self.
Excellence
For too long, expectations for exceptional individuals in schools and the community have been too low. At Areté, we believe in the competency and potential of each individual. We aim high, meeting each child where they are and advocating for the appropriate scaffolds to help them grow. To borrow Temple Grandin’s philosophy, exceptional individuals are, “Different...Not Less!”
Individuality
To achieve their fullest potential in school and in the community, exceptional individuals must be supported with services that are congruent with their unique and individual needs. No longer should we accept a generic menu of services that is offered to a vastly diverse group of individuals. Areté invests the time to understand each client individually and collaborates with them to design a plan centered on their unique goals and needs. We then advocate for what is in the client’s best interests, rather than settling for services that are inconsistent with their true needs.
Meet The Founder
Christina Aragon
Christina began her journey in disability rights advocacy in 2008. It began very personally when she had to navigate the inscrutable and often unjust special education system for her own family. Christina had a lot of experience interpreting and applying laws outside of special education and adeptly transferred those skills to learning the laws applicable to schools and regional centers in California. As her knowledge and experience grew, she became a resource for other families. With the opening up of the Self Determination Program to every Regional Center client in 2021, Christina expanded her knowledge and services to include supporting families through the transition to SDP and beyond.
Christina has a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in Psychology, and continues to grow every day in her knowledge of the evolving landscape of disability rights, laws, practices and opportunities.