Participants selected for 2024 Archives Leadership Institute at the University of Virginia

By UVA Library | April 5, 2024

In a competitive application process, 25 archivists have been selected as participants in the 2024 Archives Leadership Institute (ALI).

ALI is a grant program funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The ALI will be hosted at the University of Virginia for the years 2024-2026, and will provide advanced training for 25 archivists and memory workers, giving them the knowledge and tools to transform the archival profession in theory, practice, stewardship, and care. In support of the project, the University of Virginia Library was awarded $300,000 by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the granting agency of the National Archives and Records Administration.  

Participants were selected for the 2024 ALI@Virginia program based on their exceptional skills and potential, their ability to influence change within the archival field, a strong commitment to the archival profession, demonstrated professional organizational involvement and service, a collaborative and innovative spirit, and representation and/or support of diversity within the profession.

The Archives Leadership Institute held at the University of Virginia is a weeklong immersion program that embraces a distraction-free, focused opportunity for archival leaders to develop necessary theories, skills, and knowledge. Participants will engage in classroom and experiential learning focusing on individual growth, building capacity as a leader, organizational leadership, and responsible stewardship and partnerships. The ALI@Virginia experience will be grounded in context and place. Thus, the cohort will explore leadership through the lens of the unique emotional and historical landscape that the University of Virginia offers.

“We’re grateful to the NHPRC to have this opportunity in the UVA Library to build on the ALI traditions of an intensive, immersive, interactive, and inspiring leadership experience,” said Associate University Librarian for Special Collections Brenda Gunn, who is the director of the Institute. “Our faculty will bring a wealth of experience to our core topics of Self Knowledge and Individual Growth, Organizational Leadership, and Responsible Stewardship and Partnerships.”

“In building this iteration of ALI, the fifth one since 2008, the steering committee envisioned welcoming memory workers who have an appetite for moving our professions forward, who want to be responsible to their communities, and who desire to lead their organizations with empathy and compassion.” 

Archives Leadership Institute 2024 cohort

  • Amber L. Moore, Atlanta University Center
  • Andrea Battleground, Archives for Film at Lincoln Center
  • Arnetta Girardeau, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
  • Beaudry Rae Allen, Villanova University
  • Betts Coup, Harvard University
  • Brittany Newberry, Georgia State University
  • Chianta Dorsey, Chicago Public Library
  • David Castillo, National Archives and Records Administration
  • Elisabeth B. Seelinger, United States Senate
  • Emily Jones, Gates Archive
  • Isaac Fellman, GLBT Historical Society
  • J.E. Molly Seegers, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital
  • Jaimi Parker, Tarrant County (TX) Office of Historic Preservation and Archives
  • Jessica L. Webster, Baruch College, City University of New York
  • Joy Novak, Washington University
  • LaToya Devezin, National Archives and Records Administration
  • Laurel McPhee, University of California, San Diego
  • Lisa Nguyen, University of California, San Francisco
  • Liza Posas, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
  • Lolita Rowe, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Rachel Winston, University of Texas at Austin
  • Samantha Bradbeer Stephens, Hallmark Cards, Inc.
  • Samantha Crisp, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
  • Sandy Rodriguez, University of Missouri-Kansas City
  • Selena Ortega-Chiolero, Chickaloon Village Traditional Council

Read full participant biographies or learn more about the Archives Leadership Institute on the ALI website, www.archivesleadershipinstitute.org.