Webcast Speakers
Isabel Espinal
Academic Engagement Librarian for African Studies, Afro American Studies, Latin American, Caribbean & Latinx Studies, Native American & Indigenous Studies, Spanish & Portuguese, and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at UMASS-Amherst
Isabel Espinal has been a librarian
since 1991 and is currently an Academic Engagement librarian for
African Studies, Afro American Studies, Latin American, Caribbean
& Latinx Studies, Native American & Indigenous Studies, Spanish &
Portuguese, and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass).
Marcelo Rodríguez
Foreign, Comparative and International Law Librarian & Professor of Legal Research, University of Arizona Law School
Marcelo Rodríguez works as the Foreign, Comparative and International Law Librarian as well as Professor of Legal Research at the University of Arizona Law School in Tucson, Arizona. Previously, he was the Research and Outreach Librarian at the U.S. Courts for the Second Circuit and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. In the past, he has also worked at Columbia Law Library as well as in different capacities at the Central Library of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium; the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands; and the Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Elisa Anais Garcia
Supervising Librarian of the MyLibraryNYC Collections at the New York Public Library
Elisa Anais Garcia is the Supervising Librarian of the MyLibraryNYC Collections at the New York Public Library in partnership with the NYC Public Schools and the three public library systems of New York City. Elisa is deeply committed to creating diverse, accessible, and equitable collections for all readers, and celebrating cultural heritage through literacy.
David Lopez
2023-2024 REFORMA National President and Regional Services Manager, Orange County Public Libraries
David Lopez (he/him/él) has over 17 years experience working in public, academic, and school libraries. David is the current President of REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking and has served on council for the American Library Association. He is also past-president of the OC Chapter of REFORMA and served the organization as a public information officer for several years.
Ana Elisa de Campos Salles
Central District Manager for the Chief of Branches, San Francisco Public Library
Ana Elisa de Campos Salles (she/her) is the Central District Manager for the Chief of Branches at the San Francisco Public Library. Previously, she was branch manager at the Parkside Branch of the San Francisco Public Library, and acting branch manager of the Children’s Library and senior librarian at the City of Palo Alto Library.
Dontaná McPherson-Joseph
Collection Management Librarian, Oak Park Public Library
Dontaná McPherson-Joseph (she/her) is a collection management librarian at Oak Park (IL) Public Library and the immediate past chair of ALA’s Rainbow Round Table. A graduate of SJSU’s iSchool (c/o 2016), she has presented for Library Journal on inclusive collection development and auditing, and is an advocate for reading widely and diversely.
Michael-Wallace Davis Jr.
Collection Development & Acquisitions Manager, Alameda County Library System
Michael-Wallace Davis Jr. is the Collection Development & Acquisitions Manager for the Alameda County Library System. In his role, Davis has focused on broadening and diversifying the collection. He has worked to achieve equitable access by re-examining the Collection Development Policy, purchasing materials from local businesses to add local authors to the broader collection, and adding materials from emerging new voices that have traditionally been silenced in libraries.
Angela Ocaña
Community Services Manager, Eugene Public Library
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.
Imani Singleton
MLIS Student at SJSU and Library Clerk at Chaffey College
Imani Singleton is a library clerk at Chaffey College in California and a student in the fully online Master of Library and Information Science degree program to the SJSU School of Information. She is primarily studying cataloging and has an interest in learning best practices for incorporating DEI principles into metadata creation and maintenance.
Tina Fontenot
MLIS Student at SJSU and Reader at the Evergreen Branch, SJPL Children’s Department
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.
Jian (Lily) Chen
Lecturer at North Carolina Central University Department of Nursing; WAVES Project Director
Jian (Lily) Chen is a nationally Certified Nurse Educator, passionate community organizer, mental health advocate, and mental health disparity researcher. She started her community work in the Chicago Chinese Community more than a decade ago, promoting public health especially in the underserved communities. She successfully coordinated multiple national and local programs including the UCA Youth Mental Health Collaborative WAVES (Wellness, Advocacy, Voices, Education, Support) since 2016 to promote Mental Health in AAPI communities.
Terry Park
Education and Narrative Change Program Officer, The Asian American Foundation
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.
Kara (K. René) Price
Bridging Knowledge Scholar; MLIS Student at San Jose State University
Kara (K. René) Price (they/she/y’all, Mvskoke) is an Afro-Indigenous information professional living and working in the traditional homelands of the Wichita, Kiowa, Osage, and Sioux.
K. René graduated from the University of Kansas in August 2021 with a Master of Science in Digital Content Strategy. At KU, their work culminated in a portfolio focusing on U.S. digital foreign policy and diplomacy in the era of Big Data, namely in Indigenous data sovereignty, librarianship, and digital inclusion in Indian Country.
Vogue M. Robinson
Poet, Author, Mentor, Teaching Artist
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.
Annie Pho
2022-2023 APALA President, Head of Instruction and Outreach at University of San Francisco Library
Annie Pho is the Head of Instruction and Outreach Department at the University of San Francisco Library. She has a Bachelor’s in Art History from San Francisco State University and a Master’s in Library Science from IUPUI. She is the co-editor of the book Pushing the Margins: Women of Color and Intersectionality in LIS, as well as the co-editor of the Critical Race and Multiculturalism Series for Library Juice Press. Her research interests include intersectionality and women of color in LIS, student research behavior, and feminist pedagogy in information literacy instruction.
Alanna Aiko Moore
APALA Executive Director, Head of Community Engagement and Inclusion, Librarian for Ethnic Studies at University of California, San Diego
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.
Dawn Frood
Former Collection Development Librarian and Liaison Coordinator, Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Dawn Frood is the former Collection Development Librarian and Liaison Coordinator for Florida Atlantic University Libraries. She has worked at FAU for 5 years. Dawn earned an M.L.I.S. from the University of South Florida in 2007 and an M.S. in Information Systems and Technology in 2017. She has held several leadership positions within the Palm Beach Library Association that include: Vice-President, President and Immediate Past President. She has also represented Academic Libraries on the PBCLA Board of Directors.
Homayoon “Amir” Abtahi
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Florida Atlantic University
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.
Loida Garcia-Febo
SJSU iSchool Health and Wellness Ambassador
Loida Garcia-Febo is a Puerto Rican American librarian and International Library Consultant expert in library services to diverse populations and human rights with 25 years of experience. President of the American Library Association 2018-2019. Garcia-Febo is worldwide known for her passion about diversity, communities, sustainability, innovation and digital transformation, library workers, library advocacy, wellness for library workers, and new librarians about which she has taught in 45 countries.
Leah Plocharczyk
Director, MacArthur Campus Library
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