Upcoming Events

The room where it happens: a conversation with womxn of color in public office

Thursday October 22^nd, 5pm-6pm

Join an online panel on the need for increased representation of womxn of color in politics.
Registration link coming.

Meet our moderator and panelists:

Moderator
Christina Blocker: Managing Partner

As managing partner of Archway Consulting Group, Christina Blocker specializes in public relations, diversity & inclusion strategy, talent development, and change management for high-growth organizations. She combines an extensive marketing & communications background from the political sector with expertise in organizational behavior and data analytics from her studies in psychology to build cultural infrastructure that supports, amplifies, and sustains impact.

In Christina’s free time, she proudly serves as a Trustee at Bates Technical College in Tacoma, Washington. Appointed by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee in 2016, she is the first African-American female appointed to serve since the college’s founding. Christina is also President of the national African American Community College Trustees

Panelists
Mona Dass: WA State Senator

Mona Das was born to Indian parents who immigrated to America’s rust belt with only $6 in their pockets, yet full of hope about building a better life for their family. Mona came to the United States when she was eight months old and spent her childhood moving around due to her father’s job, living in eight states and three countries. She finally settled down in Kent, where she currently lives, and is extremely proud to call the 47th legislative district home.

Mona graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and earned an MBA in sustainable business from Pinchot University. She also attended the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University. For 15 years, Mona operated her own mortgage business, MOXY Money. Now, she works full time as a legislator. She has centered her career around sustainable development, equal access to housing, and empowering marginalized voices.

Elected to the Washington State Senate in 2018, Mona now serves as the vice chair of the Senate Housing Affordability & Stability Committee, and as a member of the Senate Transportation Committee; the Senate Financial Institutions, Economic Development & Trade Committee; and the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee. During her first year as an elected official, Mona has worked tirelessly on behalf of the environment, affordable housing, and equity and inclusion.

Mona is still working in the mortgage industry and fundraising for various organizations. She loves the outdoors, hiking, biking, paddle boarding and camping in her free time. Mona loves to travel, and has visited 34 countries. She is a proud auntie to two nephews.

Harini Gokul: Medina City Council Member

Harini is a global technology leader, an investor, civic volunteer and an advocate for advancement of women in the workplace.

She is a cloud industry leader and has 15+ years of experience driving global business strategy and customer transformation for technology companies including Microsoft and IBM. Harini has built and led global, multi-disciplinary organizations in the United States and Europe to accelerate customer transformation in the cloud and business growth, focusing on delivering real-world solutions. Her diverse background includes strategy consulting and financial services.

Harini sponsors and invests in organizations and communities to accelerate the advancement of women in technology. She is an investor in the Female Founders Alliance and on the advisory board of Future of Us, an initiative dedicated to accelerating the advancement of women of color. Harini is an international speaker, focusing on diversity, equity and innovation in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

As part of her mission to contribute to civic life, Harini ran and got elected to Medina City Council. She looks forward to leveraging her professional skills to help shape and influence policies that impact the lives of Medina and WA residents. Harini is an engineering graduate and received her MBA from Vanderbilt University.

Paula Sardinas: WA State Commissioner

Paula’s career spans 25 years working in Telecom, Engineering, Banking, IT, STEM (Financial Literacy) and Public Policy. Having previously served as the Vice President of Legislative Affairs for the Northwest Credit Union Association based in SeaTac, Washington and HAPO Community Credit Union as the Vice President of Innovation and Transformation. Sardinas was responsible for transforming HAPO’s strategic business strategy across the organization into a digital platform for the future to increase brand awareness and new member deposit accounts. Creating the HAPO Academy, which is focused on Financial Literacy and Stem Education is integral to her new role. In 2019, she launched several STEM Programs in both Eastern and SW Washington with partnerships with FEPPP, EverFi, nConnect, VPSD, EPSF and Girls, Inc. under the HAPO Academy branding. Creating diverse and inclusive programs, Sardinas believes STEM education creates a path to all communities regardless of socioeconomic background and status–pathways that allow each student to select the path that is right for them. ” Savvy financial consumer–own their future. My goal is to ensure communities of color—harness this power and control their financial future.”

As a former member of AT&T Florida’s Legislative & Regulatory Affairs team, Sardinas lead and implemented statewide, the development of legislative tactics and strategies on federal, state, and local issues that impacted the company. As of 2020, she serves as a Gubernatorial appointment to both FEPPP and the Commission on African American Affairs.

Sardinas earned her AA and BBA from Columbia College in Missouri and is pursuing an MBA at the College of William & Mary (’20). She has also worked with and for the Administrations of Presidents, Clinton, Bush, and Obama on various programs to increase opportunities and access for women and children.