Paula and Barry met in high school.  They attended UC Berkeley and were there during the Free Speech movement. Paula volunteered at Peter Maurin House (Catholic Worker) in West Oakland where she had her first real involvement in poor African American neighborhood.

In law school, Barry met some students active in the National Lawyers Guild. Barry and these new lawyers formed a law collective, the Bar Sinister. The Bar Sinister also included non-lawyer paralegals, Paula among them.  The Bar Sinister handled draft cases, and represented Black Panthers and other radical activists.  From 1970-1977 Paula and Barry lived in an urban cooperative with six other families called Mayday.  Around 1982, Barry formed a new civil rights/public interest law firm.

Paula worked with Barry in the law firm until 1992 when she became a staff volunteer at Liberty Hill Foundation.  Paula has been involved with Liberty Hill and in social justice philanthropy since 1992.