Our Board

President

Sara Sandford practiced as a transactional attorney for over 30 years in Seattle, Washington, helping clients navigate the challenges of conducting cross border corporate and commercial transactions. She is now a qualified mediator with Benchmark International ADR, LLC where she focuses her work on cross border commercial mediation.

She splits her extra time between providing pro bono services for the King County Dispute Resolution Center’s Eviction Resolution Program and helping Western Rivers Conservancy with their efforts to protect our environment. She is the former Chair of the ABA International Law Section and has served in a number of other capacities in that Section and within the ABA, including Co-Chair of the Section’s International Human Rights and the Asia Pacific Committees, and Chair of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative’s Asia Regional Council. She also serves on the advisory board of the University of Washington School of Law’s Global Business Law Institute.

Treasurer

Over a 15-year career in accounting and financial management, Yvonne has served as the controller and financial manager for closely held companies in strategic communications, civil engineering, and human resources consulting. She holds a BS in Accounting from the University of Colorado in Boulder and earned her CPA certification after working in audit for global accounting firm KPMG in Boston. Pursuing a lifelong interest in the personal stories of others and the challenges of honest communication, Yvonne took the plunge and completed Basic Mediation and Small Claims Court Training with the KCDRC, and has been co-mediating in the Kent Small Claims Court since October 2019.

Board Member

Paul Boyer is a globally-focused technology executive and strategic legal advisor with extensive experience in digital commerce, mobile technologies and international business. He currently serves as the General Counsel for two e-commerce startups in Seattle. Paul did his basic mediation training at the KCDRC in 2016 and completed the KCDRC Mediation Practicum in 2017. For the past 4 years Paul had been a volunteer mediator for the Seattle Small Claims Court pre-trial mediation program. During his free time Paul enjoys hiking, cycling, paddle boarding and yoga.

Board Member

Ashley Jolice Davis currently serves as an Associate Ombud at the University of Washington. Ashley received her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School and Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University. Ashley began her career in dispute resolution several years ago, while working in her hometown Chicago as a mediator, program manager, coach, and trainer at citywide mediation services provider, the Center for Conflict Resolution. She is also a current American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section Fellow and a National Association of Community Mediation Committee Member.

Board Member

Abdi Yusuf Jama received a B.A. from Western Washington University and a Masters of Law in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University. Abdi is an Immigration Program Director and a member of the Director’s Social Justice Cabinet at Catholic Community Services of Western Washington. He has been providing advocacy and legal immigration services to the immigrant and refugee communities in the state of Washington for over two decades. Abdi has worked with numerous Non-profit and Governmental Organizations in the State of Washington and in East Africa as a policy, social justice, and legal immigration consultant. He is also a conflict resolver, mediator, ombudsman, and peace builder. He specializes in resolving multi-party conflicts internationally and designs conflict resolution systems for governments, and NGO organizations. Abdi is on the roster of volunteer mediators for Los Angeles, California’s Institute for Nonviolence. He is State building and Democratization Program Manager at New Access International (NAI). A research and development agency established in 2012 by multi-disciplinary practitioners and specialists from around the world. NAI is a registered civil society organization in the Federal Republic of Somalia. Mr. Jama has been involved in law and policy research with development organizations for over 15 years. Abdi understands the importance of serving the underserved communities in the state of Washington and understands the importance of dispute resolution. Fun fact: Abdi Y. Jama has so far visited 37 States in the United States. Only 13 to go yay!

Board Member

Eileen retired from the King County District Court after serving on the court for 22 years. She currently serves on the board of directors for the International Organization for Judicial Training, Northwest Minority Job Fair, and an incoming member of the American Bar Foundation (ABF) board. She is also a weekly volunteer for the King Bar Association Neighborhood Legal Clinic and a member of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress and the ABF Fellows Research Advisory Committee. Eileen has served on the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts, Justice at Stake, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and has served as an active member of the American Bar Association, serving on the Board of Governors, House of Delegates, Standing Committee on Judicial Independence, Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Justice Kennedy Commission on Sentencing, Center on Racial & Ethnic Diversity, Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Judges’ Advisory Committee, Co-Founder of the Judicial Clerkship Program, and Judges’ Journal Editorial Board.

Board Member

Alan is an Emeritus Associate Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law and founding director of its Clinical Law Program. He received both his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School and Ohio State University College of Law. Alan was an academic advisor to the national drafting committee of the Uniform Mediation Act (“UMA”), a project of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and the Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association. He was instrumental in the passage of the UMA in Washington State. Once the UMA became law, he authored the User’s Guide to Washington’s Uniform Mediation Act to help the state’s DRC community implement the new statute. Alan co-founded both the Northwest ADR Conference and the Northwest Clinical Teachers Conference. He has served as Chair of the Washington State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section and was the 2011 national Chair of the Section on Clinical Legal Education of the Association of American Law Schools.

Board Member

Pranjal was born and raised in India. She practiced Intellectual Property Law at a boutique law firm in India before moving to the United States. She completed her Basic Mediation Training and served as volunteer mediator at the small claims court in Kent and Issaquah. In her free time Pranjal loves writing and spending time with her family and is often found running ( albeit slowly) or biking around the Burke Gilman Trail with her kids and husband.

Board Member

Terrance joined the board in 2025. A full bio is coming soon.