SEEDS Board of Directors
Ray Lader
(he/him)
Co-President
Ray Lader currently works at Google as an Retention and Progression Specialist where he helps employees connect to the resources they need during difficult times, help with retention efforts, and provides recommendations for systemic changes. Prior to that, Ray spent over 12 years working in higher education focused on student affairs with an emphasis on engagement, restorative practices, and equitable processes. Ray's passion is to engage in thoughtful and meaningful work that improves communities and creates spaces where people can come together in service to each other.
When away from work, Ray seeks out experiences from meaningful conversations on how to change the world with friends to taking in live music in a new venue to escaping into film and television.
Dimple Pajawani
(she/her)
Vice President
Dimple is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning & Urban Research Association (SPUR). She works closely with the CEO to manage the entire organization so that SPUR can achieve both its organizational vision and its vision for the Bay Area. Dimple oversees the Strategy and Operations function (strategic planning, business operations, people operations, finance, IT, facilities and office) and the Communications & Engagement function at SPUR.
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Prior to joining SPUR, Dimple held senior roles in strategy, operations and innovation at Blue Shield of California and Stanford Children’s Health, where she built innovative new programs. She also worked as a consultant bringing new offerings to the public and private sector at PwC and Tribal Consulting. Dimple was an independent policy consultant for the U.K. Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the U.K. Department for International Development, the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization and the John Burton Foundation. She also worked as an auditor at PwC London and as a software engineering intern at IBM and Hewlett Packard.
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Dimple holds a master's degree in operations research from Strathclyde University, a master's degree in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a master's degree in public policy from UC Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Houston.
Dimple has been a community mediator and facilitator at SEEDS Community Resolution Center since 2017. She joined the SEEDS board in 2020. Dimple is also a trainer and coach at BayNVC and a court appointed special advocate at Child Advocates of Silicon Valley.
Joy Delizo-Osborne
(she/her)
Treasurer
Joy is currently on the Memphis team at Education Resource Strategies (ERS), collaborating with the Shelby County Schools team to scale strategic school design and roll out student-based budgeting.
Prior to joining ERS, Joy was the founding Director of Upper School at East Bay Innovation Academy in Oakland, CA. EBIA implemented an innovative project-based learning and technology-focused model with a diverse set of students that hailed from every zip code in Oakland. Before that, she served in teaching and administrative roles in a number of schools including the KIPP King Collegiate and KIPP NYC College Prep High Schools.
Outside of her work at ERS, Joy enjoys cooking, baking, reading young adult novels, and spoiling her dogs Ron and Russell.
Siobhan Skerritt
(she/her)
Secretary
Siobhan Skerritt is a first generation Afro-Latina (to the US and in education) who was born and raised in New Jersey. Her background in Social Work and Education led her to building a career as a helping professional. Spending years in public service and higher education, Siobhan created policies and initiatives to support those whose voices needed to be heard, educated campus communities about consent and healthy relationships, and gave space for folks to unapologetically be who they feel they truly are.
Her first tech gig at Tesla being an Employee Relations investigator honed into her skills of finding solutions. Working closely with New Member Orientation and co-chairing the Community Service initiatives for Black at Tesla, Siobhan helped the business serve their associates with care all while complying with state and federal laws and mandates.
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Now at Google, Siobhan serves as a Retention and Progression Consultant working with folks to get access to opportunities within the company and provide space to break systems which are not equitable.
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Siobhan loves going on long walks with her pup Poseidon and being out in the sun. You may see her other furry roommate, T’Challa, walk across in the background of a meeting. A good bike ride helps clear her head, and so does hours of watching Manga on Crunchy Roll.
Ruth Bissel
(she/her)
Ruth uses her anthropological training to coach teachers and supports diverse, equitable educational experiences for students. She regularly leads educator workshops on restorative practices at the local and national level and has provided educator training on African American history at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco. Ruth is currently the Head of the Upper School for San Francisco Day School and is responsible for guiding the academic program for middle school students. She serves on the Advisory Board for SF Breakthrough and is a Board of Trustee at Prospect Sierra School. Previously, she has served on the Board of Directors for Beyond Differences, a national nonprofit served on ending social isolation in middle school. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children.
Gail Silverstein
(she/her)
Gail Silverstein is a Clinical Professor of Law at University of California Hastings College of the Law. At UC Hastings, she co-directs and co-teaches two experiential courses: Individual Representation Clinic, in which law students represent low income clients under attorney supervision while learning the skills, ethics and mindsets of successful client representation, and Mediation Clinic, in which law students mediate cases while learning about mediation. Gail’s legal expertise is in the areas of state and federal public benefits, employment, housing, and criminal records expungment law. She represents clients in state court and at state and federal administrative hearings. Gail has also mediated hundreds of cases and has developed expertise in housing and employment discrimination and retaliation matters, workplace disputes, and small claims court matters.
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Prior to her work at UC Hastings, Gail was a supervising attorney for several years in the HIV/AIDS unit of East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) and an attorney at the Hawkins Center in Richmond, California. Gail has held leadership position on numerous Boards and community efforts, including Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Disease (WORLD), Berkeley Law Foundation and the Family Care Network.
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Gail lives in Berkeley with her husband, two young children, and cat. She enjoys chocolate, podcasts, books, cooking, hiking and yoga.