# Dedra Chamberlin

> Dedra Chamberlin is the founder and CEO of Cirrus Identity, an Oakland-based cloud identity company that helps more than 200 universities run single sign-on and federated login without the friction. She arrived at identity management sideways - a UC Berkeley psychology major with master's degrees in city planning and Latin American studies who volunteered for a one-year networking internship and never left. After two decades inside UC Berkeley and UCSF IT, where she rose to Deputy Director of Identity and Access Management and chaired the University of California's system-wide identity strategy workgroup, she founded Cirrus in 2013 to build the education-specific identity tools she wished vendors had made. She is a board member of SimpleSAMLphp and a founder of IAM-HER, a community advancing women in the identity field.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Cirrus Identity
- **Organizations:** Cirrus Identity, SimpleSAMLphp (board member), IAM-HER, UC Berkeley (former), UCSF (former)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA, Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Master of City Planning (MCP) / MA City and Regional Planning, University of California, Berkeley, MA, Latin American Studies, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Cirrus Identity, serving 200+ universities worldwide, Former Deputy Director of Identity and Access Management at UC Berkeley and UCSF, Chaired the University of California's system-wide identity strategy workgroup

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Begins career in academic and student support services at UC Berkeley, working alongside emerging educational technology
- **late 1990s** — Volunteers for a one-year networking internship - her entry into IT - and a Linux baptism by fire
- **2000s** — Manages UC Berkeley Residential Computing, the ISP for 8,000+ campus residents; grows the network team from 12 to 55 staff
- **2000s** — Moves into Identity and Access Management as a manager despite, in her words, not knowing 'LDAP from SAML or CAS or Kerberos'
- **2000s-2010s** — Rises to Deputy Director of Identity and Access Management across UC Berkeley and UCSF; chairs the University of California system-wide identity strategy workgroup
- **2013** — Co-founds Cirrus Identity to build education-specific cloud identity tools
- **2014** — Cirrus launches its first product, the Cirrus Gateway Service, in March
- **2016** — Cirrus Identity raises seed funding (~$200K round; ~$350K total raised)
- **2019** — Cirrus Identity recognized as a Top EdTech Solution Company
- **ongoing** — Serves 200+ universities including Yale, Michigan, Chicago, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon and Brown

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Cirrus Identity, serving 200+ universities worldwide
- Former Deputy Director of Identity and Access Management at UC Berkeley and UCSF
- Chaired the University of California's system-wide identity strategy workgroup
- Board member of SimpleSAMLphp, an open-source federation project
- Co-founded IAM-HER to advance women in identity and access management
- Participant in REFEDS Federation 2.0 and InCommon IdPaaS workgroups
- Cirrus Identity named a Top EdTech Solution Company (2019)

## Latest updates

- **2019** — Cirrus Identity recognized as a Top EdTech Solution Company
- **2016** — Cirrus Identity closed a seed funding round

## Links

- Website: https://cirrusidentity.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dedrachamberlin/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/dedrachamberlin
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekIqNchgIxI
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/cirrusidentity

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/dedra-chamberlin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-24