Give Back to SILS: Volunteer for the Alumni Association Board
The SILS Alumni Association (SILSAA) Board includes the following elected representatives, as well as ex officio members Gary Marchionini, SILS dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor; Susan Sylvester, SILS executive assistant; and Anne Web, associate dean of development.
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 Erin Carter, Immediate Past President – Erin is a Program Manager for Cisco's Operations team. She work in corporate communications, talent development, and program management. Previous roles have included business intelligence & data analytics, filmmaking & editing, and IT Help Desks. She holds a Master of Corporate Real Estate, an MSIS ('14) from UNC SILS, and a BA in Communication Studies from UNC.
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 Jamin Friday, Vice President/President Elect – Jamin is a Product Development Lead at AARP Services on the Emerging Businesses Team. He previously worked in product and innovation roles at PNC Financial Services and Ally Financial, and finance-related roles at Flagstone Heritage and Ullico through a fellowship at Georgetown University. Prior to joining AARP Services, he held a few extracurricular roles on campus including President of the Accounting Club and serving on the Kenan-Flagler Student Leadership Council. He also has experience working for campus libraries/technology services, and completed the SILS Field Experience Program during his time as a Carolina Research Scholar. |
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 Alex Poole, Diversity Representative – An Associate Professor at Drexel University’s College of Computing and Informatics, Alex H. Poole studies archives and records management, diversity, equity, and inclusion, information practices, digital curation, and digital humanities. Poole received both the Donald G. David Award and the Justin Winsor Prize from the American Library Association (ALA) in 2022, the Jesse H. Shera Award for Distinguished Published Research from ALA in 2019, the Bob Williams History Fund Research Paper Award from the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) in both 2018 and 2017, the Arline Custer Memorial Award for Best Article from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in 2018, and the Theodore Calvin Pease Award from the Society of American Archivists (SAA) in 2013. Poole was educated at Williams College (BA, Highest Honors in History), Brown University (MA), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (MLS) (Beta Phi Mu), and PhD. |
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 Andrew Blake, ILSSA Representative |
Anita Jotwani, President – Anita Jotwani is a technology and product executive with over 15 years of data and analytics experience across finance, retail, HR, and healthcare. She currently works at ModMed, a health tech company focused on building solutions for specialty practices as the Senior Director, Product Management for Data & Analytics. Previously she worked at Walmart, Inc where she was the head of product for their global people analytics team and worked on data commercialization strategy across healthcare and merchandising. Prior to that, she led engineering transformation and product development across several areas of finance and risk with a specific focus on analytics transformation, regulation adoption, reducing technology friction and elevating end user usability across both Thomson Reuters and Goldman Sachs. Anita is a certified professional coach and holds her MBA from Duke Fuqua School of Business. She is UNC-CH alum, with a BS in Information Science from SILS with a second major in Economic
Meggie Lasher, Secretary – Meggie is is the Research and Academic Engagement Librarian at Davidson College, where she leads outreach and programming.
Meaghan O’Riordan, Treasurer – Meaghan O’Riordan has served as the Accessioning Archivist for the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives & Rare Book Library at Emory University since 2016. Previously she was a Library Associate for the Gwinnett County Public Library system (2014-2016) and a Library Associate at the Special Collections Research Center at North Carolina State University (2012-2014). She holds a masters in library science from UNC-Chapel Hill (2014).
Samira Akpan, Communications Director – Samira Akpan is a Durham native that has an extreme affinity for learning, the Tar Heels and real mac and cheese. She is a self described 'goal digger' and listener with almost 20 years experience working in clinical research and operations. Samira uses her years of experiencing incredibly dry training programs to lead learning transformation projects with as few PowerPoint presentations as possible. Outside of work, Samira enjoys adding library cards to her collection from libraries explored around the world with her two younger sisters and chasing dragons. She is a proud member of the class of 2006. Pay It Forward: Volunteer for the SILS Alumni Association Board!
Your SILS experience has benefited you in many ways. The SILS Alumni Association (SILSAA) is dedicated to helping foster the same high level of experiences for current and future SILS students and to helping alumni stay connected to and involved in the SILS community. To stay vibrant, the association needs your input and energy. An excellent way to become involved is to join the SILSAA Board. The positions are: President, Vice-President/President Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and Communications Director. To submit your name for the slate of candidates, e-mail the SILSAA president. Below is more detailed information about each position.
The offices of Vice President/President Elect, President, and Past President are usually held by one person. That person serves one year in each of the offices for a total service of three consecutive years. The duties of the Vice President/President Elect, President, and Past President are as follows:
President
In the second year, when the officer takes the position of President, organizes and presides over regular meetings of Executive Board and sets agenda with help from Board members; represents SILSAA at campus functions as needed; serves (ex-officio) on the Board of Directors of the UNC General Alumni Association and attends quarterly meetings; speaks to graduating class at Spring and Winter commencement; presides over general business meetings; presents awards at commencement and events; assists with planning of events and graduation activities; and assists with nomination of new officers.
Vice President/President Elect
In the first year as Vice President, attends monthly Board meetings and becomes familiar with the operations of the Association by working with the Executive Board in planning various functions and by assisting the President. The Vice President plans events and graduation activities that will engage with alumni and students. The Vice President/President Elect assumes the duties of the President in the President's absence. In the second year, this individual fulfills the duties of President. The individual serving as VP may serve remotely and may coordinate with the Executive Board on managing on-campus engagement.
Past President
During the third year, when the officer takes the position of Past President, attends monthly Board meetings, offers advice and assistance to the new President and assists the Executive Board as needed. The Past President assists with planning of events.
Treasurer
The Treasurer serves a two year term and assists with keeping financial records of the Association. The Treasurer's mission is to assure that funds are managed to optimize the Association's efforts to achieve its goals and fulfill its mission. The Treasurer's responsibilities include, but are not limited to, maintaining a record of event fees and costs; maintaining a record of disbursements; reporting on the financial condition of the Association at all Board meetings; preparing and delivering to the President, by September 1 of each year, an annual financial report (July I through June 30); consulting with the Board and obtaining its approval for expenditures; and serving on committees and performing other duties as requested by the Executive Board and as deemed necessary for the good of the Association.
Secretary
The Secretary records minutes of all board meetings. In addition to distributing minutes and other meeting materials, this SILS-AA board member maintains the organization’s files in Google Drive.
Communications Director
The Communications Director serves a two-year term, focusing on SILSAA’s digital communications with alumni, including email, web presence, and social media. The individual participates in SILSAA Board meetings and works closely with SILS’ Director of Communications on relevant projects. May be expected to represent SILSAA at SILS events (depending on location).
SAID Representative (new position)
This position serves a 1-year term and is the liaison between the SILSAA Board, the SILS Diversity Committee, and the SILS Alumni Inclusion and Diversity (SAID) Committee. The SAID Representative's mission is to advise the Board on engaging and increasing involvement with SILS minority alumni and current students.
