Webcast Speakers

Speaker

Mount Allen
Director of Network Engagement, SFJAZZ

Picture of Mount Allen

During the 2012 International Association of Venue Managers Performing Arts Managers Conference in New York City, Mount Allen introduced the concept of non-higher-education performing arts venue participation in research and education networks. Since that introduction, he has worked to integrate advanced networking technology into the arts industry, highlighting the use of apps such as JackTrip and EduMEET, in Networked Music Performance involving world-renown jazz artists: Where latency truly matters. 

Speaker

Ashlee Johnson-Geisse
Founder, Brown Girl Farms

Photo of Ashlee Johnson-Geisse holding flowers

Ashlee is a queer black woman farmer, wife, and mother and founder of Brown Girl Farms in Hayward, California. Birthed from a belief that queer, black, women farmers need more representation and celebration in the growing world, Ashlee Johnson-Geisse created Brown Girl Farms. The farm  serves to spread loving intention to community through market vegetables, African American heritage crops, and unique seasonal flower bouquets. 

Speaker

Tamearra Dyson
Executive Chef/CEO/COO, Souley Vegan

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Tamearra Dyson is a second generation Bay Area native with roots tracing back to Louisiana. Growing up as the youngest of three children in a single-parent household, she experienced firsthand the hardships of food insecurity and the impact of limited financial resources on a family. Due to these circumstances, she found herself in an abusive environment when left with her father. Despite these challenges, Tamearra was driven to succeed and forge her own path.

Speaker

Tarunjot Chahal
Vice Chair, AANHPI iSchool Student Group

Photo of Tarunjot Chahal in her Fresno State College of Science and Mathermatics graduation robe.

Tarunjot Kaur Chahal is a graduate student in Informatics and holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science. As a South Asian American deeply interested in the intersection of technology, identity, community, and care, she has focused her research on the digital divide, health informatics, and the role of technology in public health. Tarunjot is particularly passionate about data analytics and has applied her technical skills to projects such as analyzing disease dynamics to better understand patterns in health outcomes.

Speaker

Katie Albright
Student Success Librarian, Courtright Memorial Library, Otterbein University

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Katie Albright, M.L.I.S. (Simmons University), is the Student Success Librarian at Otterbein University. Her research primarily focuses on the unique needs of first generation and lower income students, particularly with how the hidden curriculum affects their learning, sense of belonging, and retention.  She also works in disability advocacy in the field of library sciences.

Speaker

Sarah Tribelhorn
Sciences and Sustainability Librarian, San Diego State University

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Sarah Tribelhorn is Sciences and Sustainability Librarian at San Diego State University. She has been instrumental in leading sustainability initiatives in the University Library, including the formation of a library Sustainability Committee and the library’s participation in the Sustainable Libraries Initiative Certification Program (SLCP) for academic libraries to benchmark sustainability within the library.

Speaker

Sandra Michelle Echols
School Librarian, Bibliotherapist, New York

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Sandra Michele Echols is a thought-leader librarian, Bibliotherapist, and educator with extensive experience managing public, academic, and school libraries. As a dedicated professor and mentor, she is passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration, applying artificial intelligence in education, engaging classroom experiences, developing leadership training, and adapting to the evolving education, library, and nonprofit industries.

Speaker

Oscar Gittemeier
Program Manager for Innovation and Community Engagement, San Diego Public Library

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Oscar Gittemeier is the San Diego Public Library Program Manager for the Division of Innovation & Community Engagement (DICE). He received a BA in sociology, an MA in Women’s Studies, and a master’s in library and information science, with a certificate in leadership and management, from Florida State University. He serves as cochair of the Public Library Association EDISJ Committee. He has worked with the CIRCUIT Information Issues for Social Impact team to execute several sustainability themed grants and projects. When not at work you can find Oscar hiking and biking SoCal.

Speaker

Hema Panesar
Registrar, University of Southern California (USC) Pacific Asia Museum

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Hema Panesar is a cultural strategist dedicated to shaping impactful experiences that celebrate collaboration, representation, and community. As Registrar of Exhibitions and Loans at the USC Pacific Asia Museum, she brings exhibitions to life—managing everything from high-level logistics and budgets to the intricate coordination of incoming loans and production timelines.

Speaker

Samip Mallick
Co-founder and Executive Director, South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

Photo of Samip Mallick.

Samip Mallick is the co-founder and executive director of SAADA. As a second-generation South Asian American who was searching for stories that reflected his identity, he discovered that there were no institutions preserving this history. In 2008, Samip helped establish SAADA to ensure that these stories would never be lost. Under Samip’s leadership, SAADA has become a nationally recognized leader in intergenerational connection and community-based storytelling. Previously, he worked for the University of Chicago and the Social Science Research Council.

Speaker

Mantra Roy
Community Engagement Librarian, SJSU King Library

Photo of Mantra Roy, who has short dark hair, glasses, earrings, and is wearing blue and white tops.

Mantra Roy, in her role as Community Engagement Librarian, is a tenure-track librarian-faculty at the King Library in San José State University. After earning her PhD in American Literature and a brief college teaching career in Florida, she came to the world of libraries.

Speaker

Julia Warga
University Librarian, John Carroll University

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Julia Warga is an academic librarian with over 20 years of experience working in college & university libraries. She is currently the University Librarian – Director of the Library at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. She is an active member of the American Library Association, with service on committees for professional ethics, intellectual freedom, and international libraries. Warga is also committed to improving her local community, and is a former city councilor and public library trustee. 

Speaker

Maria McCauley
Director, Cambridge Public Library

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Dr. Maria McCauley is Director of Libraries for the City of Cambridge. She leads a team of 150 talented staff members and works closely with three boards and across the city to achieve an inclusive, ambitious vision of library services for all. Under her leadership, the Cambridge Public Library (CPL) has expanded its branch hours by 54+ hours per week, opened the award-winning Net Zero Valente Branch library, and launched a STEAM at the Library program including the first free public maker space in Cambridge.

Speaker

Aaisha Haykal
Manager of Archival Services, Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, College of Charleston

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Aaisha Haykal is currently the Manager of Archival Services at the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture in Charleston, SC. She is responsible for collection development, public programming, instruction, reference, and administrative duties in this position. Haykal has been the Co-PI on digitization and oral history grants totaling approximately $2.1 million, increasing access to historical materials and supporting new archival professionals. She has been involved in several associations, including the Society of American Archivists (SAA).

Speaker

Dr. Brian Kelly
Reader in US History, Queen’s University Belfast; 2024-25 PALS Fellow, Birzeit University, West Bank, Palestine

Photo of Dr. Brian Kelly, a light-skinned man with short light hair wearing a green collared shirt and dark jacket.

Brian Kelly is Reader in US history at Queen’s University Belfast (Northern Ireland),
where he has taught for 25 years, and is former director of the After Slavery Project.
His research and writing focuses on the complicated relationship between race and
class in the nineteenth and twentieth-century United States, with a concentration on
labor and race in the American South. He has published extensively on topics