PSCCN Team

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 before relocating to the United State.

What do you do at PSESD: Dinda is the lead on partner engagement & smooth team operations. She provides leadership on PSCCN’s Financial Aid communications & PSCCN’s communications via the newsletter and website.

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

Naveed Badri

Name: Naveed Badri

Role: Manager, Puget Sound College and Career Network

Background: Naveed grew up in South King County and currently lives in Tacoma.

What do you do at PSESD: Naveed works to embed youth leadership and continuous improvement in PSCCN, build regional capacity, and increase collective action around equitable postsecondary opportunities for students across the PSESD region.

Prior Experience: Naveed has a background in community public health, college access, and youth leadership. He has worked at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) where he led health equity efforts in COVID-19 community engagement, participatory budgeting & planning, and youth leadership/advocacy. Prior to his work at TPCHD, Naveed worked at The College Success Foundation-Tacoma as a College Prep Advisor supporting 11th and 12th grade students, as well as admin with college and career planning support.

Education: Naveed earned his Bachelor or Science in Microbiology and Master of Public Health in Community-Oriented Public Health Practice from UW-Seattle.

How do you spend your free time: Naveed enjoys cooking/grilling, biking, and playing guitar.

Favorite quote: “Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.” -W. Edwards Deming