Staff

Executive Director
Jory Steele’s career has consistently reflected a deep commitment to racial justice, and her commitment to dismantling discrimination is evident throughout her journey. She began her legal journey at the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center in San Francisco, dedicating nearly six years to handling racial and sexual employment discrimination cases. Subsequently, Steele spent almost a decade at the ACLU of Northern California, where she was both the managing attorney and the founder and director of the organization's Education Equity project.
Research Consultant
Sakshina’s work has spanned public health, agriculture, financial inclusion, poverty alleviation, low-income housing, and workforce development. Previous to joining the institute as a research consultant, she was a research program manager at the Stanford Immigration Policy Lab, supporting the U.S. Immigrant Health portfolio. Her responsibilities included project scoping and management, partnership development for research and fundraising, data collection, and research design and data analysis support.
Communications Director
Pat Lopes Harris brings to the institute two decades of experience in journalism and communications. Previously, she was the senior director of communications for the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs at Stanford and the media relations director for San Jose State University. Earlier in her career, she was a staff writer for the San Jose Mercury News, and a reporter for the San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal and Washington (D.C.) Business Journal. During her college years, she served as an intern in the Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawai’i.
Event Planner
Chau Lam-Glover has over 25 years of event planning experience for a diverse clientele. Previously, she was a senior manager of special events at Larkin Street Youth Services, a San Francisco nonprofit. Lam-Glover also led her own project management and event planning firm for 20 years, serving corporate, governmental, and cultural institutions and organizations including the CREWSF (Commercial Real Estate Women San Francisco) Association, the APA (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Heritage Foundation, and the Asian Chefs Association. She is a fluent Mandarin and Cantonese speaker.
Director, Finance & Administration
Şihla Tümkaya’s record reflects a lifelong commitment to human rights and higher education, including more than 15 years of experience at Stanford. Previous to her appointment as the director of finance and administration for the institute, she was the director of finance and operations for the Department of Sociology and the Urban Studies Program, the associate director of the Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy Program, and the graduate program manager for the Department of Political Science. Earlier in her career, she was a senior project manager at The University of Hong Kong.
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