Paula Russell-Gilford

Paula is a stay-at-home mum to her two beautiful daughters in the UK. This was an amazingly wonderful and privileged position to be in and one that remains her present situation, having moved the family back to the UK in July 2023. During her time in California, Paula applied for and was successfully admitted to the Masters of Liberal Arts program at Stanford where she is currently writing her thesis for this program, having completed all the course work prior to the move to the UK. Pauls is passionate about diversity and enjoys mentoring young LGBTI students.

The empowerment of young girls and women through education is essential if we wish to effect positive change in the world. This is a belief Paula holds strong, so when she was introduced to Daraja she knew she had found something special. When Paula visited Daraja in person, the word “special” felt too small. She was introduced to a community created from diversity, to educate and empower incredible young girls: to encourage them to critically think and strive to achieve beyond what they had imagined. Paula feels incredibly privileged to be a small part of that community and honored to have been asked to serve on the board.