Behind the Clutch: A Conversation with Aarika Riddle
When I first met Aarika Riddle, she was interviewing for the Executive Director role at Always Dream, a literacy nonprofit working in partnership with schools and families in California and Hawaiʻi. I had joined their board the previous year in 2019, and we were looking for our new leader just as the COVID pandemic was in its early months. When Aarika was tapped to lead Always Dream in October 2020, our organization was pivoting like so many others — trying to figure out how to adapt a program model in the middle of school closures and virtual classrooms.
The pandemic tested everyone, and nonprofit leaders especially. Asking Aarika to step in and build trust with a new team, board, strategic partners, families, and donors — at a time when isolation was the way we operated, especially in the Bay Area — would push anyone to dig deep into how they truly lead.
I saw Aarika as a clutch leader from day one.
Aarika Riddle, Executive Director of Always Dream
Becoming a Leader (Twice)
But Aarika didn't become a clutch leader overnight. Nearly 20 years in the nonprofit sector — and a first leadership role at nine years old, when she ran for third grade class representative at her elementary school. Her campaign slogan? "Just Do It. Vote for Aarika." — Nike swoosh and all.
"I don't love that I plagiarized my posters, but that was my first entrée into student government."
From there, she went on to become student body president at her high school. Running for office in third grade taught her she liked leadership. But feeling like a leader — professionally — came later. Aarika points to her time as Development and Marketing Director at Adolescent Counseling Services, working through a strategic planning process:
"For whatever reason, that was the first time I saw the consultant, my ED, and several board members looking at me, listening to me, saying, 'That's a really good idea,' or 'I like where you're going with that.' Being in that strategic planning world, thinking future-forward, mapping things out for the next three years — and having people I saw as leaders give me that validation — that's when I thought, 'I'm a leader too.'"
There's a lesson here for anyone growing into leadership: the moment you step into a leadership role and the moment you feel like a leader are often two very different moments. Both matter.
The Diplomat at the Wheel
Having worked with Aarika now over the last six years as one of her board members, and these last two as her Board President, I've seen her navigate pivots, changes, growth, and hurdles. What makes her a clutch leader isn't any single move — it's the pattern.
Aarika has honed her skills across development, marketing, and executive leadership while also staying close to program, learning, and impact. As she reflected: "Because I understand so many facets of the organization, it helps me see how different departments might be experiencing an issue or opportunity."
That kind of cross-functional fluency is what allows a clutch leader to mediate. Aarika describes herself as a diplomat:
"I have a viewpoint, but I'm also making sure we're not ruffling too many feathers on either side, because at the end of the day, I need both to move forward."
She knows the value of not always pushing to grow and do more, and not immediately coming to a stop, but of assessing and determining the smartest move for where the organization has been, is now, and is hoping to go.
When External Forces Force the Pivot
That instinct has been tested. External forces don't always ask permission before pushing you into gas pedal or brake mode. In a prior ED role, the organization had lost a six-figure funder — nearly $800,000 — just as she was stepping in. There was no mediating that one. It meant going to community partners and telling them the organization could no longer serve their sites.
"When external factors force you there, you have to be flexible and pivot. As a clutch, you're thinking, 'How do I make this transition as smooth and seamless as possible?' Maybe in some areas we need to be more measured, so we slow down there, but in another area we can speed up. It's give and take. It's not speeding up all the way across the board or slowing down all the way across the board."
The ideal, she noted, isn't extremes. It's smooth acceleration and measured slowing. Whiplash — sudden gas or slammed brakes — leaves teams behind. Clutch leaders think about how to bring everyone along through the shifts, because we know those shifts are inevitable, whether the forces driving them are internal or external.
The Strength That's Also the Watch-For
I asked Aarika what strengths clutch leaders bring, and what to watch out for.
Strengths, in her view, are two-fold: bringing people along by understanding both frontline realities and strategic priorities, and leaning into transparency and vulnerability with the team and key stakeholders. "The more transparent you are — 'Yeah, this might be hard, but we've got a plan,' or 'We don't have that figured out yet, but here's what we need to do to get there' — the more confidence they'll have."
But her biggest watch-for is the flip side of her biggest strength.
"Being diplomatic is good, but it can also be seen as conflict-averse. I always have to watch for that in myself. I still need to stand my ground and not shy away from conflict… It can be easy to slip into 'I'm diplomatic, so I'm just not going to deal with the conflict.' I have to be cognizant of stepping in and addressing things head-on, not letting them roll to the side."
The Mediator Who Still Has to Decide
There's a paradox at the heart of clutch leadership, particularly for EDs. The clutch mediates. The clutch bridges. But the ED still has to decide — and often, the buck stops with them.
Aarika named it directly:
"Ultimately, in the clutch you still might not be going anywhere. You need one or the other to have forward momentum — or to decide that steady state is where we need to be right now, or that we need to retract."
Sometimes deciding means hitting the gas. Sometimes it means pumping the brakes. Sometimes it means calling steady state exactly right. Clutch leadership isn't passive — it's discerning.
Bridging the Board
Nowhere is this balancing act more visible than at the board level. Boards are full of gas pedals and brakes, and clutch EDs are the bridge between them.
"At Always Dream, we know we want to grow and we know there are opportunities. So we're looking at how to do it at a measured pace that still demonstrates ambition to donors — keeping the gas pedal board members satisfied — while making the finance committee and the more cautious members feel secure about our plan, our financial sustainability, and our revenue model. As a clutch Executive Director, you're the bridge — helping bring the brakes along and slowing the gas pedals down a bit, so you get to a happy medium of growth that makes sense for the organization."
That kind of thoughtful mediation isn't just useful — it's what Aarika believes makes for a healthy organization in the first place. "Nobody wants to be the leader of an organization where everyone's just going, 'Yes, yes, yes.' That should raise a lot of red flags. Conflict isn't a bad thing, and differing opinions aren't a bad thing. You need that healthy tension between gas pedals and brakes, and maybe a couple of clutches in the mix to bridge them and make it a smooth ride."
Aarika's Advice
"Surround yourself with people who have diverse opinions and different ways to approach situations. It might be frustrating at times, but it's really healthy. It's probably what makes the best organizations super successful — it's not everybody in the same camp, because you have varying opinions and approaches."
Reflections from Aarika on Clutch Leadership
Leadership identity forms in two moments. Self-recognition and external validation are both essential — and often happen years apart.
Mediation is the clutch's core skill. Understanding both frontline realities and strategic priorities is what allows the clutch to bridge gas and brake.
External forces will push you out of your default style. A funding loss, a growth surge, a crisis, a pandemic — flexibility isn't optional.
Measured motion beats extremes. Smooth acceleration and measured slowing prevent whiplash and keep teams with you.
Diplomacy can slide into conflict-aversion. Stand your ground. Address tension head-on rather than smoothing everything over.
The mediator still has to decide. Being a clutch ED means bridging others' views while still making the call — including the call to hold steady.
A healthy organization needs a mix of styles. Boards and teams full of "yes" or even "no" are a red flag. Deliberate recruitment for diverse styles creates productive tension.
Transparency and vulnerability are what actually bring people along. Tell people what's known, what isn't, and what the plan is to figure it out.
About Aarika Riddle
Aarika is the Executive Director for Kristi Yamaguchi's Always Dream, and has spent her career in service to youth-focused nonprofit organizations. She is passionate about early literacy and closing the opportunity gap for students. Prior to joining Always Dream, she served as a Senior Executive Director at Reading Partners in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Aarika lives in Oakland with her husband and two young sons. Her favorite children's book as a child was Haircuts for the Woolseys, and she enjoys reading Edward the Emu with her kids.