PSCCN Team
- Aileen Velasquez-Soto
- Christian Granlund
- Dinda Davis
- La Shonda Lipscomb
- Leila Crist
- Mercy Daramola
- Naveed Badri
Aileen Velasquez-Soto
Name: Aileen Velasquez-Soto
Role: Puget Sound College and Career Network Manager
Background: Aileen was born and raised in Washington, but calls Jalisco, Mexico her second home.
What do you do at PSESD: She supports regional collective action around college and career readiness through technical assistance, project management, and stakeholder coordination.
Prior Experience: Aileen is a college and career access educator with a demonstrated history of working secondary and post-secondary education. As a first-generation student who has gone through the K-12 and higher education systems, she understands the need for collective work to achieve equitable outcomes and inclusivity of values in education. Aileen was previously at Highline Public Schools where she served as a project manager for small and wide scale college and career access and family engagement events.
Education: Aileen received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and Project Management Certificate from Green River College. #GoDawgs
How do you spend your free time: Ideally with family or friends, trying a new restaurant or traveling. Being able to experience new cultures and places is a beautiful privilege.
Favorite quote: “La que puede, puede” – unknown
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. #GoDawgs She is currently working on a master's degree in Business Administration at Western Governors University. (WGU) #GoOwls
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
La Shonda Lipscomb
Name: La Shonda Lipscomb
Role: Director of Postsecondary Programs, Puget Sound College Access Network
Background: Shonda is originally from Los Angeles and has lived in Italy, Turkey, New Jersey and Seattle.
What do you do at PSESD: She leads program strategy development and implementation. Shonda provides staffing to Promise Partnership Leadership Teams, convenes key groups with managers and the director including District Leaders Network, Practitioners Improvement Network and the PSCCN Steering Committee. She manages and coordinates PSCCN programs team.
Prior Experience: : Shonda has worked in ABE and ELA fields for over 13 years and has had the pleasure of holding positions as an Instructor, a Teacher Trainer, a Manager, a College Navigator, a Student Success Specialist, and Director. She has also taken the time to volunteer, for over 4 years, with non-profit organizations that encourage development, education, equity, and inclusion.
Education: Shonda has her Master of Education, BS in Marketing, and an AA in Fashion & Visual Merchandising
How do you spend your free time: Shonda enjoys travelling, dancing, exploring art & culture and Irish whiskey.
Favorite quote: "Be good. And if you can't be good, be safe." Eunice Mae Bradford (Shonda's Grandmama)
Leila Crist
Name: Leila Crist
Role: Program Coordinator for PSCCN and CINRE
Background: Leila is originally from Southern California, but considers Kansas City, MO her hometown after living there for many years. She now lives in Puyallup with her husband and children.
What do you do at PSESD: Leila works with two different teams at PSESD helping to coordinate projects, budgets, events and support the work PSESD does with students, families, and the community.
Prior Experience: Leila has previously worked in multiple community colleges in both Continuing Education and Student Engagement and Leadership. In addition, she has also worked in public and university libraries in Kansas and Washington.
Education: Leila has a graduate certificate in Community College Leadership from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, a Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry from San Diego State University, and a Bachelor's Degree in English with a Creative Writing minor from the University of California, Riverside.
How do you spend your free time: Leila spends her free time hanging out with her family and friends, reading, baking, thrift store shopping, and spending time outdoors.
Favorite quote: “Be curious, not judgmental.” – possibly Walt Whitman, definitely Ted Lasso
Mercy Daramola
Name: Mercy Daramola
Role: Lead Director, Puget Sound College Access Network
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