SHEELA RAMESH

Director of Learning & Communications

Sheela Ramesh is an advocate and licensed attorney whose career has focused on ensuring that youth who have experienced trauma have opportunities to thrive. After joining Freedom Forward in 2018, she brought to life the FAM model of foster care as a state-funded pilot program. Sheela was previously a Skadden Fellow at Bay Area Legal Aid, where she provided direct civil legal assistance and systemic advocacy for youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation, and conducted dozens of trainings for agencies and community organizations across the Bay Area. She clerked for the Honorable Jeffrey Alker Meyer in the U.S. District of Connecticut, and during law school served student director of two law clinics serving children and youth. Sheela holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, as well as graduate degrees from University College London and the Royal College of Music (both supported by a Marshall Scholarship) and two undergraduate degrees from Carnegie Mellon University.