Webcast Speakers

Angela Ocaña (she/her) has been the Community Services Manager in Eugene, Oregon, for the past five years. Unfortunately, Eugene faces one of the highest unhoused rates per capita of unhoused individuals. Since beginning her work with the city, she has fiercely advocated for unhoused youth in her community. Before her move to the Pacific Northwest, she was born and raised in Santa Clara, where she spent twenty years with the Santa Clara City Library. She is a graduate of Santa Clara University and San Jose State’s iSchool.

Tina Fontenot is in her final year of the Master of Library and Information Science degree program at the SJSU School of Information. Fontenot is a first-generation college student whose interests include volunteering for the Girl Scouts of Northern California and serving as a reader at the Evergreen Branch of the San Jose Public Library’s children’s department. Some of the LIS organizations that she is involved in include BCALA, CLBC, YALSA, and ALSC. Fontenot is a passionate advocate for information accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Dr. Terry K. Park (he/him) serves as TAAF’s Education and Narrative Change Program Officer. An award-winning educator, social justice advocate, and former performance artist, Park has over 20 years of experience at the transformative intersections of anti-racist education, social change storytelling, and media advocacy.

Vogue M. Robinson – poet, author, mentor, and teaching artist – has an appreciation for human beings who put truth and heart into words. She served as poet laureate of Clark County, Nevada and is the first Black woman to receive the Silver Pen award from the Nevada Writers’ Hall of Fame. Her first poetry collection, Vogue 3:16 is available in both print and audiobook format. Robinson serves as a teaching artist within classrooms, community centers, nonprofits, retirement communities, and of course, inside your computer. Vogue resides in Las Vegas, NV, with her family.

Alanna Aiko Moore is the Head of Community Engagement and Inclusion and Librarian for Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego where she manages diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging-related Library projects in collaboration with campus colleagues. Alanna is the Executive Director (and Past President) of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association.

Homayoon “Amir” Abtahi, is currently an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Florida Atlantic University.  He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T. in 1981 and joined Florida Atlantic University in 1983.  In addition to his academic activity, he has a wealth of practical experience, much of which has been obtained as a practicing design-build engineer installing solar energy systems.

Leah Plocharczyk is a University Librarian and the Director of the MacArthur Campus Library where she oversees library operations.  She has published articles and book chapters on subjects about managing conflict in libraries, literacy support for individuals with intellectual disabilities, creative library outreach, and library collaboration with marine mammal stranding networks.  She is the co-author of the book, Libraries and Reading: Intellectual Disability and the Extent of Library Diversity.  She is active in mentoring students and library outreach.  Her areas are

Nick Buron is the Chief Librarian for the Queens Library. He oversees all library services in the 66 Queens Library locations, including programming, outreach and collections. He has been with the Queens Library since 1993 when he started as a front line librarian. In 2016, he moved into his current position.  Nick has direct and indirect supervision for over 700 employees. He assesses current needs and plans for the future service needs of the community.

Natalia Petrenko is the Director of V. H. Korolenko State Scientific Library of Kharkiv, Head of the Kharkiv Regional Branch of the Ukrainian Library Association, an all-Ukrainian public organization.

Research interests: automation of library and bibliographic processes, digitization of documents, history of librarianship, popularization of reading.