About Me
From operations leader to archivist‑in‑training — driven by a lifelong belief that access to information changes lives.
What led me here
Libraries were my first refuge. Growing up, the Lake County Public Library offered a sense of belonging and possibility that shaped how I see the world. After a successful career leading operations and teams, I returned to academic research at Harvard Extension School and encountered a turning point: while studying the Montagu case in England, I discovered that the key court transcript had rarely been consulted because it wasn’t digitized or easily accessible. That gap didn’t just complicate the history — it limited who could participate in telling it.
Research focus
That experience sharpened my commitment to access, transparency, and ethical stewardship. Today at Simmons University, I focus on digital preservation, responsible metadata, and inclusive description — with a particular interest in LGBTQ+ archival representation. I’m motivated by questions like: Who gets described and how? What barriers keep communities from finding themselves in the record? How can we design systems that welcome, not exclude?
What I bring from past roles
My background as a director of operations taught me to lead teams, manage complex portfolios, and build evidence‑based processes. In archival terms, this translates to designing clear documentation, optimizing descriptive and accessioning workflows, and stewarding information from intake through access with accountability. I have implemented new technologies, trained staff, and built feedback loops—experience I now apply to appraisal decisions, metadata normalization, and user‑facing discovery. In short, I approach collections work as an information processing system: goal‑oriented, transparent, and evaluated against outcomes for the communities it serves.