Krista Oldham, Candidate for Nominating Committee

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Krista Oldham

University Archivist

she/her

 

Volunteering can serve as a catalyst for change and transformation.

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BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

I am the university archivist at Texas A&M University, where my responsibilities include overseeing the acquisition, description, and preservation of university records, as well as supporting and promoting their use. Additionally, I provide oversight for the Texas A&M records management program. Prior to Texas A&M, I worked at Clemson University as the university archivist, at Haverford College as the college archivist/records manager and at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville as the senior archivist and the senior archives manager. In addition to my archival work, I previously served as co-director of the Arkansas Delta Oral History Project, a multi-year collaborative service-learning project. I earned a MIS. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and earned both a MA in history and a BA in history from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

I have been an active member of SAA for more than ten years. Currently I’m the immediate past chair of the Records Management Section and an appointed member of the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Subcommittee. I am a former member of the College and University Archives Section, chair of the Donald Peterson Student Travel Award, and member of the Archival History Section. In addition to my SAA service, I have been an active member and have held leadership positions in the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), Digital Library Federation (DLF), AtoM Foundation Board, Best Practices Exchange (BPE), Society of Southwest Archivists (SSA), Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC), and South Carolina Archival Association (SCAA).

DIVERSITY STATEMENT

Each candidate prepared a diversity statement according to SAA guidelines.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are active processes that require continuous, intentional commitment to foster an inclusive, safe, and intellectually-vibrant profession. I have long understood the value of DEI, and this will continue to play a central role in my future career.

As an archivist who considers herself a memory worker, I am acutely aware of the ways identity (felt and perceived) shapes how we see, understand, and engage in the world. My multifaceted identity as a white, hetero, cisgendered, mostly able-bodied, middle class female (to name a few) influence not only how I approach work, research, and service, but also how my actions are received by others either reproducing or challenging harmful systems of oppression and power hierarchies. Thus, I intentionally create opportunities to interrogate and learn from colleagues’ and collaborators’ subjective positionalities to create a more expansive, empathetic profession open to all.

I fully understand the importance of continual advocacy for and allyship with those burdened by the social injustices that have subdued many individuals and communities. My goal therefore is to amplify and elevate the diverse voices and perspectives of those marginalized by custom and precedent that serve only to maintain the status quo. I strongly believe I have a responsibility to engage in DEIA work and advocate through my voice and my actions.

I am dedicated to facilitating the healthy development and operation of SAA through the nomination of candidates that embody inclusive leadership, who fully grasp the importance of integrating diversity, equity, and inclusivity. I strongly believe that the Nominating Committee can successfully disseminate these values throughout the organization with careful consideration and selection of individuals best able to articulate and attain these goals.

QUESTION POSED BY NOMINATING COMMITTEE

SAA depends on volunteers to lead the organization and guide activity in support of the strategic plan. Given the demands of our current social environment and need for work-life balance, what keeps you committed to SAA? Why should one volunteer?

CANDIDATE'S RESPONSE 

Volunteers are precious resources, and the success of an organization is most often due to the contributions of highly motivated volunteers who are willing to share their time, expertise, and desire to make a difference. In a world where our current social environment and associated stressors have become persistent and indefinite and individuals are constantly navigating competing pressures on their time, volunteers need to overcome their assumptions—and their deeply ingrained habits—around work to focus on establishing a stable and sustainable way to stay professionally engaged while practicing self-care and maintaining an overall healthy well-being. My strategy for staying professionally engaged and maintaining some semblance of work-life balance relies on being strategic as to where I focus my energies, where I find purpose in my work, where I feel like what I do matters, and where I am making a positive contribution. I choose to focus my service energies within SAA.

There is a myriad of reasons as to what motivates me to volunteer for SAA. Some of these reasons admittedly fulfill my professional needs and advance my career as an archivist. For example, I have been able to develop professionally and explore growth opportunities that are beyond my daily scope of work; I have been able to cultivate and refine valuable experiences and skills working with a diverse group of individuals; and I have made important personal and professional connections that undoubtedly expanded my support network, deepening my engagement with the profession.

These are all worthwhile motivations, but I want to stress the importance of the benefits of volunteering for SAA that are beyond personal and professional gains. I speak of the benefits to the profession itself. Professional organizations are vital to the life of the profession. Volunteering can serve as a catalyst for change and transformation. Through volunteering we can reimagine and think creatively to address the unmet needs of our professional community, seeking out diverse perspectives and creative solutions to emerging and systemic issues, and promote our profession and the value of our work in society.

Volunteering is an active and deliberate pursuit made by individuals. Simple actions made by volunteers matter and they resonate because there is power in collective action. When archivists with diverse knowledge and insights take collective ownership of issues, we are uniquely mobilized around advocacy efforts which support the continued growth of the archival profession and nurture archivists and archives.

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