Michelle Ganz, Candidate for Council

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Michelle Ganz

Director of Archives

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Diversity, equity, and inclusion means that everyone gets access to the same opportunities with the individualized support needed to succeed. I want to build on the foundational work that past presidents and Council members have accomplished by looking at how to create new opportunities targeted to specific groups.

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BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

Michelle Ganz is the archives director for the Dominican Sisters of Peace. She has previously worked in academic, museum, corporate, and private archives. Michelle is deaf, mixed race, queer, and weird which gives her a unique view of archival theory and practice. She has been a mentor for more than thirteen years, serving on the Mentoring Committee twice as well as participating in the Cohort Mentoring Program. She also does one-off mentoring for anyone who asks and offers advice and support to archivists on listservs and in social media groups. Michelle has served in section leadership roles in the Accessibility and Disability Section, the Independent Archivists Section, and the Lone Arrangers Section; she has also served on several section steering committees and appointed task forces. She was part of the working group who developed the Best Practices for Working with Archives Researchers with Physical Disabilities in 2008. She has served as the SAA representative for ALA Committee on Cataloging and has served on two ARMA International working groups. She has spoken about DEI for most of her career and works to support others who speak on the topic. Michelle regularly speaks to MLIS students in classes, in symposia, and through keynote presentations. Michelle was the recipient of the 2020 Spotlight Award and subject of a 2020 Council Resolution honoring the Accessibility and Disability Section Steering Committee. Michelle has spoken on numerous SAA panels, taught workshops and webinars for SAA, MAC, and SGA and has been published numerous times. She is currently the cochair of the 2023 Host Committee. In addition to her work with SAA, Michelle has served as the inaugural regent of Member Services with ACA; her second term as regent wraps in August 2023.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT

Each candidate prepared a diversity statement according to SAA guidelines.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion means that everyone gets access to the same opportunities with the individualized support needed to succeed. Growing up mixed race, disabled, and Jewish in small-town Ohio, my experiences have been the driving force behind my DEI work. After a lifetime of challenges, I want to make sure that the inequality I faced is not faced by anyone else. As a department head, I am able to inject DEI into the operating procedures of the archives. This includes providing adjustable height desks and chairs suited to each person, flexible work schedules, work-from-home options, and ensuring that staff have access to mental health support. Through my DEI and mentoring work, I have come to understand how fortunate I was to have had privilege growing up. This privilege helped me find my voice and feel comfortable sticking my neck out for what is right. I have been able to use that privilege to advocate on behalf of others for inclusive spaces and practices. As a long-time mentor, I have learned to listen; people know what they need, they just need help getting those needs fulfilled. As SAA Council member, I will be able to help SAA fill the gaps in member needs and support member-led efforts to make SAA more accessible and equitable. A goal for my term is to create pathways to help people become more active members of SAA through leadership coaching webinars and information sessions highlighting opportunities to serve. I would like to make it easier for SAA members to participate through shorter projects and task forces. Another goal is to help create a repository of resources to bridge the educational divide, including creating more asynchronous educational opportunities at low or no cost. I want to build on the foundational work that past presidents and Council members have accomplished by looking at how to create new opportunities targeted to specific groups. I would like to create a pathway to providing more financial assistance to archivists and archival students from marginalized communities. To this end, I would like to create new scholarship/grant opportunities to support students and new professionals and work with the Education Committee to find ways to make continuing education accessible to those without institutional support. I will also work with the Standards Committee to create parameters for ensuring that future standard and best practice guidelines take DEI into consideration at inception or during regular review.

QUESTION POSED BY NOMINATING COMMITTEE

As you look at the SAA Strategic Plan, Work Plan on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA), and the A*CENSUS II report, how do you envision the future of SAA, keeping in mind some of the challenges and/or opportunities the Society should prepare for?

CANDIDATE'S RESPONSE 

As the voice of archivists and the archival profession, SAA is beholden to supporting all archivists, regardless of socioeconomic status. SAA is a growing, living organization, and, over the last decade, we have made great strides in diversifying the archival profession and archival collections. As the nature of archives evolves, SAA has sometimes struggled to keep pace with those changes, but the last few years have seen positive strides being made. From making the Annual Meeting more accessible to holding open forums on difficult topics, SAA continues to listen and respond to member needs. SAA has seen an unprecedented diversification of the field and has struggled to reconcile the more political aspects of diversification with the traditionally monolithic nature of the profession. As our profession decentralizes the white view of archives, we are becoming a more important part of international efforts to decolonize and diversify archival collections. Archives continue to play a role in political and humanist scenarios that require the profession to meet the DEI challenges we have set for ourselves. The A*CENSUS II survey shows that we have doubled the number of BIPOC archivists, but 16% means we still have a long way to go to see true diversity within the field. SAA needs to be a part of these efforts by providing more targeted educational opportunities, workshops, and opportunities for archivists without the privilege of access to support tools. Looking at the census report, it is clear that there are still barriers to entering the field. The biggest challenge to SAA’s Strategic Plan is our own members; too often the vocal minority who contributes financially is given priority over what the majority of members want. It should not take a decade to approve standards for marginalized collections and communities. Steps need to be taken to ensure that SAA is representing the needs of current members and to demonstrate that it can meet the needs of future members. I think it would behoove SAA to create a way to pilot programs designed to fill specific needs for specific communities of archivists. Members know what they need, they just need support from SAA to help make them happen. The A*CENSUS II survey results also showed that there is interest in the idea of unionization, and the greatest opportunity that SAA could provide to its members is to become a union. Through unionization, SAA would be able to provide real support to archivists who need it most and for the benefit of us all. This sort of organizational shift requires substantial planning, and we need to start exploring how to make that happen.

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