Directory

Damali joins California Institute of Integral Studies as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion after a 15-year career in progressive non-profit leadership. She brings an unshakable commitment to equity and justice along with rich lived experiences to her role at CIIS. From 2008-2011, Damali helped pioneer Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the Haas Center for Public Service (long before the uprisings of 2020 and long before many organizations were ready to invest in this critical work). More recently, she spent a year leading an in-depth racial equity project to address the achievement gap between Black students and their peers at a Bay Area high school. That project inspired her to become an even more vocal practitioner, advocate and thought leader in the DEI space and motivated her decision to pursue a MA in Social Justice and Organizing. Most recently, she co-led DEI initiatives at Root & Rebound while also leading their fundraising and communications efforts, creating campaigns about the systemic injustices and disparities built into America’s criminal legal system. Damali grounds her work in antiracist and anti-oppression praxis. She is also a restorative justice and mindfulness practitioner who approaches everything with a restorative impulse, integrity, lots of deep breaths and compassion. Damali lives in Oakland, CA and loves travel, spicy food, Reggae and Hip-Hop music.