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Professional Experience: Curator of African American History and Reference Librarian, Library Company of Philadelphia, 2012–present. Research Archivist, Maryland State Archives, 2011–2012.
Education: MA, Public Humanities, Brown University, 2011. MLIS, Archival Studies, UCLA, 2009. BA, English and American Literature, Brown University, 1995.
Professional Experience: Society of American Archivists: Member since 2008; Mosaic Award Subcommittee, member, 2012–2015, chair, 2014–2015; Navigator, 2014 Annual Meeting; Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable Awards Nomination Task Force, 2012–2013; Professional poster, “Mining the Archives: Uncovering the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland,” 2012 Annual Meeting; Speaker, “Fostering a Diverse Profession: Mentoring and Internship Programs,” 2011 Annual Meeting. Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference: Member since 2012; Local Arrangements Committee, Fall 2013 Conference; Session chair, “From Obstacles to Opportunities: Confronting Challenges in 21st Century African American Archives,” Fall 2012 Conference. Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries: Paper presenter, “Building Community While Building a Library: Community Partnerships and the Creation of the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum,” 2009 Pre-conference. LA as Subject: Library Residency Advisory Board, 2012–2013. Grant reviewer: National Endowment for the Humanities, Digital Humanities Start-up Grants, Fall 2013.
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Question posed by Nominating Committee: What will be your criteria for choosing a slate of nominees, and how will those help SAA in its mission?
Archivists are facing massive technological, administrative, and demographic changes in their professional responsibilities. SAA leadership should address these challenges so that the SAA will remain relevant, both to its membership and to the profession’s stewardship of the archival record.
SAA needs leaders who will be responsive to member concerns. In recent years, I’ve been impressed by the increased responsiveness and transparency shown by SAA leaders and would seek nominees who are committed to continuing this trend of listening to the wide range of viewpoints among the membership. A key means of achieving this is by selecting nominees who represent and support diversity in a variety of ways, including geographical region, type of repository, career stage, and socio-cultural background.
I would also seek nominees who advocate for archives and archivists and empower others to do the same. Although political advocacy is an important component, there are a number of other ways that nominees might show support for archives and archivists. These include mentoring and grooming other archivists at all career stages for professional growth and satisfaction; supporting institutional policies that give archivists the necessary authority to carry out their professional responsibilities; and ensuring funding to make professionally staffed archives a sustainable reality.
Nominees should also demonstrate interest in advancing SAA and the profession by being active in SAA sections, roundtables, committees, or other archival groups. Qualified candidates may also show passion and commitment to the profession by speaking and writing about archival issues at conferences, through social media, or in archival publications.
These criteria will help SAA fulfill its mission to “promote the value and diversity of archives and archivists” by assembling a slate of candidates who will be champions of SAA, the archival profession, and other archivists.