I believe that cultural heritage organizations have the ability to foster belonging, hope, and an empowered citizenry and can be active spaces for social transformation. 

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You Belong Here is the collaborative, justice-driven approach that informs the strategic framework I brings to archives, libraries, museums, and non-profit organizations. It is born of my personal story, my research and scholarship, and my core values. As a Founding Partner of You Belong Here (consulting), I am committed to creating welcoming and inclusive environments that make cultural heritage truly accessible. I know that by analyzing and shaping organizations from the nuts and bolts to the overarching vision, it is possible to create an environment where all who walk through these spaces can begin to see a place for themselves, their stories, and their histories

In my previous role as Associate University Librarian for Special Collections and Director of the John Hay Library where I was the first woman to hold this role, I shifted how Brown University approaches its management of its special collections, foregrounding an ethical practice for collecting, stewarding, and providing access to our shared cultural heritage.  I led a monumental effort to write a visionary collection policy for the Hay, an approach that is now part of the curriculum in several library information graduate programs. The capstone of that journey is an initiative centered on elevating an examination of the carceral state.  I created Voices of Mass Incarceration in the United States with a foundation collection of the personal papers of Mumia Abu-Jamal. The acquisition of the collection was featured in the New York Times, and the collection opened for research in fall 2023 with public programming including a symposium that had an international footprint and multi-site exhibition.  A dedicated and empathetic leader, I bring my whole self to work and cultivate the best in my staff and colleagues. 

My relationship to libraries and archives started at a young age through my participation in my mother’s work as an artist and teacher. Archives and the work of social justice became inextricably connected for me during my time in in Chile when I was immersed in primary source artifacts, ephemera and records of human rights workers and women’s social networks.  My fluency in reading, writing, and spoken Spanish allowed me to develop a network of scholars and archivists throughout Chile. My research and inquiry compelled me to explore the intersection of social justice  and archival practice in the piece, “Treading the Ground of Contested Memory: Archivists and the Human Rights Movement in Chile,” published in 2015 the field-leading journal Archival Science.  Inspired by my mentor in the field Terry Cook, and his dear friend Verne Harris, I continues her research and scholarship by exploring archives as windows into healing for trauma, the ethical praxis of human rights archives — especially those of prison witness —  and examining understudied twentieth century women’s movements in the United States and South America.

I hold an undergraduate degree magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kapa from Willamette University, an MLIS with a concentration in Archival Studies from Simmons College, and an MA in History from Simmons College. My award-winning master’s thesis titled ““Our Time is Coming:” An Intellectual History of the International Wages for Housework Campaign,” will be the basis of my first scholarly monograph. I am also the author of “I am a Survior: Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Archives” (Nursing Clio 2023). I am a seasoned library professional with fifteen years of work, first at Harvard University and then at Brown University. 

I am a scholar and a poet, and I believe in the transformative power of language and storytelling.  As a retired competitive gymnast and a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I is dedicated to lifting the veil of silence about abuse against young women and advocating for stronger support, rehabilitation, and accountability. A queer woman, I am a mother to my son Salvador, an active mentor of women, and a member of several professional organizations and boards.

Photograph by Cat Laine.