Christopher Dorizar is a sophomore at Highline College pursuing a Biology DTA degree. With plans to transfer after completing his AA degree, he hopes to major in environmental science at the University of Washington.  He hopes to pursue graduate school as well and become a researcher who focuses on ways to tackle the pollution in our environment. Currently an active student leader, he participates in MESA, TRIO, Highline Promise, and Umoja as part of his campus community experiences. He also serves as a Student Ambassador for Umoja Black Scholars.

Christopher radiates a positive energy that easily draws people to him. In addition to his growth mindset, empathy, and kindness, he exhibits resilience in the face of adversity which has helped him overcome many challenges.  Before this summer opportunity, he had a volunteer role in the field of environmental science through science workshops at Highline College.  Committed to sustainability and protecting the environment his engagement with school-age children allowed for teaching opportunities within the field of biology and environmental science.

In his new role as a Special Project Liaison for PSESD, Christopher’s role at PSCCN is to provide a Promise Scholar voice to the work of KCP, develop student journey documents, design and critique training that are being developed for Promise support teams, and ensure that his assigned projects are completed on time and within the allotted budget. Christopher also has many “duties as assigned" smaller taskings that include presentation development, evaluation of progress from the student perspective, input on the development of diversity initiatives, and other time-sensitive and moving parts of the KCP grant initiatives. He works closely with the KCP Program Coordinator, the Director, and the support team.

His mantra is; “If dreams are only realized through dreaming, why not make them a reality?”

Dinda Davis is the Program Coordinator for PSCCN at the Puget Sound Educational Service District. Her work includes ensuring team operations run smoothly and PSCCN efforts are communicated effectively to our partners via the newsletter and website.

Most recently, Dinda earned her Master's in Business Administration from Western Governors University. (WGU) Before this role, she worked in the healthcare industry while attending college at the University of Washington. (UW) It was the obstacles she encountered while navigating postsecondary education by herself that ultimately drove her to this work. As a Zambian-born first-generation American, she navigated the postsecondary journey with what seemed like an inoperative compass to tackle the rough terrain she would encounter such as inequities, systemic barriers, etc, as well as a lack of awareness of resources, and opportunities available to all students and in some cases exclusively available to students of color.

Her lived experiences largely drive Dinda to support any efforts to break systemic barriers, and inequities to ensure students of color have the necessary resources to earn postsecondary credentials of their choosing. She believes that if it takes a village to raise a child then it should take a village to educate one, therefore, it will take a communal effort from the 'village' to see a meaningful change for students of color to successfully navigate their postsecondary education.

Dr. Elizabeth Cook has always been a staunch advocate for postsecondary education, particularly connecting educational services to those students with the highest need. Her depth of knowledge and experience has enabled her to build consensus across multiple communities in many different situations, K-20 institutions, and contexts.

After graduating from the Tacoma Public School system, Dr. Cook earned an undergraduate degree from Duke University in Durham, NC, and then returned to the northwest to work at the University of Washington. Her career in Higher Education Administration has spanned over fifteen years in multiple institutions, guiding various academic programs and community partnerships within the United States. She has completed advanced degrees at the University of Oklahoma (M.Ed) and the University of Texas at San Antonio (Ed.D). Dr Cook also connects education to service while supporting the military career of her spouse, Lt Col Roderick Cook, USAF, and their most recent tour of duty at the US Embassy- Jakarta in Jakarta, Indonesia.

While living abroad, she most recently served on the Board of Trustees for the Jakarta International School (JIS) allowing her to grow as an educational leader in an international setting.

Dr Cook and her family have purchased a home in Puyallup and enrolled their three children in schools accordingly. They enjoy traveling as a family and look forward to building alliances in the area and contributing to the local community.

Jonathan Joseph is the Director of Postsecondary Sustainability and Strategic Development at Puget Sound Educational Service District. His role work on building long term strategic alignment and funding sustainability to support the ongoing postsecondary services.

Jonathan has earned his Master of Urban Planning and Master of Public Health from the University of Washington, focusing on the systemic inequities and disparities within health, economic and educational systems. Jonathan comes with deep root in community planning and advocacy; working to uplift the experiences of youth and families into strategic planning and policy making decisions. He also has over 18-year experience in operationalizing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging values into policies, protocols, and procedures of system support networks.

Jonathan and his family immigrated to Seattle when he was young. His lived experience as a melanated, multilingual person has inspired his passion for postsecondary systems transformation. He continues to be a steadfast changemaker, identifying root causes of systemic oppression and implementing measurable actionable changes in collaboration with community.

Mollee Shultz is the Director of Postsecondary Data and Impact at the Puget Sound Educational Service District. Her work is focused on improving data sharing and transparency to help postsecondary access become more equitable.

She earned her PhD from the University of Michigan where she worked for the GRIP lab (www.gripumich.org). After graduating, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Texas State University with the STEM Equity Project (www.stemequity.net). She has seven years of experience designing and executing mixed-methods research to understand the inclusivity of instructional practices. Her work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Educational Studies in Mathematics, Linguistics and Education, and the International Journal of STEM Education. Prior to beginning her PhD program, Mollee taught undergraduate mathematics at Hancock College, Cuesta College, and Diablo Valley College.

As a Chinese mom of mixed-race children, her work is guided by a hope to create educational systems that honor and uplift the experiences of underserved youth. She aims to use the narratives from available data to showcase the value of doing work that respects the inherent worth of youth that must navigate an oppressive and racist system.

Naveed Badri is a Program Manager at the Puget Sound College and Career Network. He works to provide leadership, technical assistance, build regional capacity, and support to increase collective action across K20 and college access organizations to ensure equitable postsecondary opportunities for students across the Road Map District and PSESD region.

Naveed earned his Master of Public Health from the University of Washington where he focused on college and career access as a public health issue. Naveed has had more than 14 years of experience in community organizing , postsecondary navigation, community health, and youth empowerment/leadership.

Naveed is a first generation Iranian as part of the Iranian Diaspora. He has lived in Western Washington his whole life and takes great pride in living, working, and serving the communities that helped shape him. His personal and professional mission is fight for those furthest from educational justice and share power with youth and community leaders most impacted by the inequities that exist within our systems.

Paige Peterson is the Program Coordinator for PSCCN and CINRE at the Puget Sound Educational Service District. Her work is to coordinate meetings and events, track budget spending, assist in communications, and fill any other gaps needed to support the team.

Originally from Houston, TX, Paige went to college in Richmond, VA before moving to Seattle in 2014. Paige holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Richmond with a concentration in Marketing.

Prior to this position, Paige worked at Boys & Girls Clubs of King County in marketing and fundraising. There, she discovered her passions for growing equitable opportunities in youth development and fostering a positive team culture through mutual respect, collaboration, and personalized moments of joy and appreciation.

With a lifelong core value of fairness, Paige pushes back on harmful norms and exclusivity, recognizing that our unjust society won’t change without challenging the status quo. Having served in multiple racial equity and organizational culture committees, Paige believes that leaning into hard conversations with respect and humility is essential to creating a more just and compassionate world.

Paige has a one year-old daughter named Riley and enjoys crafting, making and playing games, and cheering for the Seattle Kraken in her free time.

Dr. Sy Ear is the Lead Director for the Puget Sound College and Career Network (PSCCN). As the Lead Director, Sy supports regional collective action around college and career readiness with facilitation of policy, practices, program improvement, and system alignments to eliminate opportunity and achievement gaps. He provides support through technical assistance, project management, and stakeholder coordination.

Sy is an equity-minded leader with 20+ years' experience serving as an educator in the state of Washington. His experience includes leading teams that implemented equitable services and programs to foster student access, retention, and completion for under-represented, economically disadvantaged, and first-generation students. He values inclusive excellence and collaboration in his efforts to create opportunities for all students to succeed.

Sy earned his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Washington-Tacoma. He also has a Master’s degree in Student Development from Seattle University and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Sociology and Ethnic Studies from University of Washington.

Sy was born in Cambodia and has lived in the South King County area for the past 30+ years. He is a father of two young children, Taylen and Jennavy. Family and community are where his values are grounded and rooted. He credits his wonderful wife and children for the strengths and inspirations to continue developing his servant leader approach. I am excited to engage in the work of PSCCN Post Secondary team to facilitate the systemic alignment work to eliminate the Opportunity Gap by leading with Racial Equity.