Jillian Cuellar, Candidate for Council Member

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

Hello, colleagues! In the last two decades, I've focused most of my career as an archivist on finding creative ways to engage people who are new to archives. I especially enjoy working with and learning from students and early career professionals; some of the most rewarding moments of my career have resulted from creating opportunities for new archivists to translate theory into practice.

I started my career as a project archivist at Parsons School of Design, Columbia University, and New York University. At UCLA, I led a renowned graduate student program in new directions, oversaw a pioneering digital archives program, and worked with incredible archivists as Head of Collection Management. As director of Tulane University Special Collections, I provide leadership for a division of talented staff who work together to ensure the broadest possible access to the resources in our care.

I joined SAA as a student in 2005, though I wasn't active in the beginning. I didn’t have professional development funds and I didn’t know how to get involved. I was lucky to meet colleagues who helped me find my path. Since then, I have contributed to SAA’s mission in these capacities: Collection Management Tools section (elected vice-chair and chair, 2013-2015); 2014 Program Committee (member); 2014 Student Program Subcommittee (chair); TS-DACS Working Group to revise Statement of Principles (2017); ARL/SAA Mosaic Diversity Program Advisory Group, (2013-2020); 2020 Program Committee (co-chair); 2021 Career Services Commons counselor. I’ve presented at conferences including SAA, the Rare Book and Manuscript Section of ALA, the Society of California Archivists, and the Archivists Roundtable of New York. I am a member of the Archives Leadership Institute 2014 cohort and the 2021-2022 cohort of the Association of Research Libraries Leadership Fellows. I have a MLIS from Pratt Institute and a BA in English from UT, Austin.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT (Each candidate prepared a diversity statement according to SAA guidelines.)

My professional perspective is undoubtedly influenced by the positionalities I was granted and those I have claimed. I'm a Mexican American, a feminist, a Tejana, a mother, wife, sister, and daughter. I hold many privileges which have allowed me to achieve moderate success in patriarchal white spaces. I don't speak Spanish but I do speak some Spanglish—an undervalued skill which has helped me connect with people from myriad backgrounds, and my own familial background. Of course, my identity alone doesn’t prepare me to advocate for advancing DEIA principles in my work or throughout our profession. My career has been a series of experiences that have reinforced how much I don’t know about others’ lived experiences, the complexities that we all inhabit, and how this impacts individual careers, our shared profession, and the broader educational landscape. I’m continually humbled by that understanding. In that awareness, I strive to become a better learner, listener, teacher, and partner. I know I hold biases, and it’s my responsibility to actively work to uncover those biases and fight them through self-education, reflection, and action.

I’m an optimist by nature, yet I share the disillusionment, anger, frustration, abandonment, and deliberate exclusion that many who belong to marginalized communities feel in this profession. Like many BIPOC individuals, I have firsthand knowledge of what it’s like to lack access to highly educated familial networks, generational wealth, or to be one of the few, or only, person of color at the table. I also recognize that many archivists, regardless of representational status, are bewildered by the opaqueness of navigating a career in archives. If elected, I hope I can be a resource for those who have yet to find their way in our field, as well as amplify the voices of those who have already found their footing.

Our impact as archivists depends on our ability to build sincere relationships with communities that have historically been excluded from our institutions. Our willingness to build platforms for every member of our profession to contribute their knowledge to advancing our goals is equally important to the health of our field. SAA Council is uniquely positioned to catalyze change, to create opportunities for transformation, and to build something entirely new in service to our fellow members and our profession. Listening to what our colleagues are saying—as well as to what is left unsaid—is the first step towards action.

QUESTION POSED BY NOMINATING COMMITTEE

Council members’ most important responsibility is to govern the Society thoughtfully and with an eye to the future of the profession, including supporting SAA’s financial stability and growth and developing and implementing the Society’s strategic priorities. Can you outline specific goals or initiatives you would prioritize during your term to address current and emerging needs and challenges facing the archival profession?

CANDIDATE'S RESPONSE 

Our colleagues in Council and SAA leadership have laid out two roadmaps that established priorities for the archives profession: the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan and the Work Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. If elected, I would be excited to help lead continuing efforts towards achieving these goals.

As of February 2024, the most recent update to the Strategic Plan 2023-2025 dashboard identified several initiatives that have yet to begin where I feel my experiences would be an asset. For example, three initiatives (2.2.H., 3.1.F., and 3.1.I) focus on addressing the need for standards, best practices, and training to support a more intentional approach to archival collection development and related activities such as donor relations, community engagement, and ethical resource management. I am currently contributing a chapter on collection development policies to a revised edition of SAA's Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts (forthcoming 2024) in which I seek to examine collection development practice within a framework of responsible stewardship. I am also currently co-editing a book, Radical Visions: New Perspectives in Special Collections Curatorship (Society of American Archivists, 2025), that attempts to situate curatorial practice within the context of radical social transformation. By engaging a diverse selection of contributors—those new to curatorial work as well as seasoned archivists and librarians, including several who don't consider themselves curators—my co-editor and I hope to provide new models for establishing trustful relationships with creator and user communities throughout collection building and stewardship activities. With the insights I am gaining through writing, research, and conversation, I feel well prepared to contribute to efforts in SAA to transform our profession’s approach to collecting.

I’m also eager to support the initiatives outlined to build sustainable communities in our profession, especially for BIPOC archivists and archivists from other marginalized groups (2.3.A and 2.4.C). I’m excited to investigate new ways of facilitating peer to peer mentorship and networking, formally and informally. SAA’s mentorship program is well established, but we should explore alternative approaches to help us scale up those efforts. I have found mentorship to be integral to my career development, offering me a sense of community and support. How can SAA support that kind of networking better so that we can all learn from each other and share knowledge? How can SAA help connect members outside of our annual meetings? There are many regional associations that develop in person programming for networking and skill sharing; I’d love to see SAA partner more regularly on these efforts. Attracting a more diverse population to our profession is just one step in DEIA work; a serious effort towards retaining underrepresented archivists is imperative if we wish to build a healthy and sustainable future for archives.

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