PSCCN Team
Angelica Alvarez
Name: Angelica M. Alvarez.
Role: Postsecondary Student & Family Engagement Manager.
Background: Born and raised in San Luis, Arizona to migrant field workers, Angelica has traveled and worked in the fields alongside her family most of her life. Angelica began her career working in social services and education.
What do you do at PSESD: Connect with School Districts in the Road Map Region around Financial Aid Completion, Postsecondary Readiness, provide Financial Aid Trainings and support.
Prior Experience: I dedicated ten years to the Merced County Office of Education in California supporting families in Pre-k to 12th grade. Before coming to PSESD, I worked for 13 years for an agency dedicated to promoting equity for children, building community stability, and encouraging school readiness. My passion is to serve all students and families from different walks of life.
Education: Bachelors in Education with a focus on Educational Leadership, Intercultural Studies in Dual Language Education and Humane, Democratic, and Sustainable World.
How do you spend your free time: Going to church and with my family
Favorite quote: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
Christian Granlund
Name: Christian Granlund
Role: Puget Sound College and Career Network Manager
Background: Christian was born in Massachusetts but grew up in Seattle and currently resides in West Seattle.
What do you do at PSESD: Christian manages various projects that support alignment between K-12 systems and postsecondary institutions, with a specific focus on Pierce County. He also works to support new initiatives around improving college placement practices.
Prior Experience: Christian’s experience has been centered around college outreach and access. Before PSESD, he held numerous roles at South Seattle College, including Assistant Director of New Student Services, in which he led outreach and communications efforts to K-12 populations, as well as systems-level strategic development for the intake and onboarding experience for new students. He was also heavily involved in numerous campus-wide initiatives that supported equity and inclusion, specifically concerning professional development and hiring practices.
Education: Christian earned a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Ethnic Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management at Washington State University. Go Cougs!
How do you spend your free time: Christian spends he free time staying active, enjoying quality time with his family and friends, and taking his dog, Roni, to the dog park.
Favorite quote: "If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” -Antoine de Ste. Exupery
Dinda Davis
Name: Dinda Davis
Role: Puget Sound College Access Network Coordinator
Background: Dinda was born and raised in Lusaka Zambia by her widowed mother before relocating to the United State in 2004. She now lives in Kent, WA.
What do you do at PSESD: Dinda is responsible for ensuring the program has all the supplies and materials to run smoothly. She sends out a monthly newsletter that highlights PSCCN work including shifts in the education system as well as sharing resources to support educators in the newsletter. She is also responsible for the logistical side of the PSCCN operations. This includes everything from event planning and execution to providing support to the team.
Prior Experience: Dinda worked in the healthcare industry while attending college and the obstacles she encounters while pursuing her degree were ultimately what drove her to this work.
Education: Dinda earned a Bachelor of Arts in communication with a major in Public Relations and a minor in Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington. She is currently working on a master's degree in Business Administration at Western Governors University. (WGU)
How do you spend your free time: When she is not doing her Christian volunteer work, she loves to spend time with her family and friends. Dinda also enjoys listening to music, concerts or an occasional movie.
Favorite quote: “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas A. Edison
Kyla Lackie
Name: Kyla Lackie
Role: Postsecondary Readiness Director
Background: Kyla grew up in King and Pierce Counties and lives in South Seattle with her five-year-old son.
What do you do at PSESD: Kyla oversees regional strategies and systems alignment to increase postsecondary access and success across Pierce and King County.
Prior Experience: Kyla managed district secondary success and college readiness programs like GEAR UP, Advisory, High School & Beyond Planning, AVID, college access community partnerships, counseling supports, and school college and career programming in Highline Public Schools. She also worked for five years at SOAR, a regional early learning and youth development coalition, developing youth program supports.
Education: Kyla earned a Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies and Sociology and a minor in Documentary Photography at the University of San Diego. She later earned a master's degree in Public Administration at the UW Evans School of Public Policy and Governance.
How do you spend your free time: Kyla loves taking her son out for a bike ride, reading, and being outdoors.
Favorite quote: “Things are not getting worse, they are getting uncovered. We must hold each other tight & continue to pull back the veil." Adrienne Maree Brown
Mercy Daramola
Name: Mercy Daramola
Role: Puget Sound College Access Network Manager
Background: An LA native, Mercy has called Washington home for the last 7 years
What do you do at PSESD: Mercy supports regional collective action around college and career readiness through technical assistance, project management, and stakeholder coordination. Her primary project is managing the King County Promise Refinement Phase.
Prior Experience: Mercy’s experience spans the education pipeline from early learning to postsecondary. Before the ESD, Mercy worked as Director of Programs at College Access Now, a Seattle based nonprofit providing college access and success support to students in high school and college from low-income backgrounds across Seattle and South King County. Mercy has also worked at various higher education institutions across the US, from small private liberal arts colleges to private research universities, to large public universities and more, and also served as a board member at Launch, a Seattle-based early learning program.
Education: Mercy earned her master's in Higher Education and Student Affairs from New York University and her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
How do you spend your free time: You can find Mercy flexing her creative and/or community building muscles – traveling with friends, practicing stand-up comedy, at a dance class, and more!
Favorite quote: “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style” Maya Angelou