SAA Election 2021

Seventeen candidates vying for four different offices are slated for SAA’s 2021 ballot (see box at right). The candidate elected Vice President will serve a one-year term beginning in August 2021 and then will become SAA’s 78th President in 2022–2023. The candidate elected Treasurer will serve a three-year term beginning in August and running through the 2024 Annual Meeting. There are three available seats on the Council; those elected will serve three-year terms beginning in August and running through the 2024 Annual Meeting. The three candidates elected to the 2022 Nominating Committee will serve one-year terms beginning immediately.

In the box at right, click on each candidate's name to read a brief bio along with their response to the questions posed by this year's Nominating Committee.

Questions were developed by SAA's 2021 Nominating Committee: Helen Kim (chair), Itza Carbajal, Valencia Johnson, and Council members Petrina Jackson and Ricardo Punzalan.

New in 2021, the Nominating Committee asked each candidate to prepare a diversity statement, providing the following guidelines:

A diversity statement reflects on how one’s identity and experience contribute to diversity; demonstrates awareness of DEI issues and how to frame and approach them; and identifies specific DEI strategies that apply to the position they apply for. Thus, it responds to the following questions:

• What is your own definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion?
• How have your own personal, academic, and professional experiences and expertise prepared you to advocate for inclusive, equitable practices?
• Are you aware of your own implicit biases? How have you come to this realization and how do you continue to grow as an advocate for DEI?
• How do you reflect DEI in your work? How will you model a trauma-informed and inclusive practice, and mentor others who will work with you?
• What are your specific plans and strategies that will use the position you are applying for to advance DEI within your immediate SAA unit, SAA as a whole, and beyond the organization?

The online ballot will be administered by SAA's election service provider, Survey & Ballot Systems, in late March. The ballot will be open from March 31 through April 21.

Any eligible member of SAA may also be placed on the ballot by submitting a petition signed by fifty individual members. Petitions must be received at the SAA office in Chicago by February 10, 2021. No petitions were received this year.

Please note the following:

• All full individual members, student members, and primary contacts of institutional members who are in good standing on March 19, 2021, will be eligible to vote in the 2021 Election. Members who join on or after March 19, 2021, will be eligible to vote in the 2022 Election. 
• Individual associate members are not eligible to vote.
• SAA staff will export and upload voter data to the online ballot system during the first week of March. Voters will be able to access their online ballot between March 31 and April 21, 2021, via their SAA username and a unique password included in the email notification.
• If you have any difficulty, please contact SAA staff at saahq@archivists.org or call us toll-free within the US at 866-722-7858 or 312-606-0722 for assistance.
  
  

SUGGEST CANDIDATES FOR 2022

It's never too early to submit names of prospective candidates for next year's election.