Karl Dean served from 2007 to 2015 as the sixth mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Karl first held public office when he was elected as Nashville’s Public Defender in 1990, a post he was reelected to in 1994 and 1998. He served as Metro Law Director from 1999 to January 2007, when he resigned to run for the office of mayor. Since leaving office in September 2015, Karl has taught at Belmont University and Boston University (2016). He is a graduate of Columbia University and Vanderbilt Law School.

Roosevelt Weeks has served as the director of Austin Public Library since 2017, where he leads a dynamic team and library system of 20 branch locations, the History Center and a new Central Library. He came from the Houston Public Library, where he served, most recently, as the deputy director of administration overseeing the following units: organizational development, financial services, fleet inventory/distribution services, digital inclusion and community engagement. Prior to that role, Roosevelt served as chief technology officer where he oversaw implementation of wireless connectivity and videoconferencing for all library locations, installation of a patron reservation system and upgrading of computer technology. He is a member of and serves on several committees within the Texas Library Association, American Library Association and Public Library Association. Prior to joining HPL, Roosevelt held management positions at Accenture and Aetna. He received his master’s degree in library science from the University of North Texas and his Bachelor of Science in computer science from Texas Southern University.

Michelle VonderHaar is deputy general counsel for HP Inc., leading the global legal affairs team supporting HP’s commercial organization. This legal team partners with the global commercial organization to provide legal support for all HP’s sales and services go-to-market motions. This includes enterprise, small to medium businesses, retail, public sector, online sales and services. The team also provides strategic advice and thought leadership to enable HP’s sustainable growth in a highly dynamic market environment. Michelle joined HP Inc. in May 2018 and served as the company’s chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel for the print global business unity, global ethics and compliance, employment, brand security, litigation, privacy, supply chain, antitrust, environmental, health and social responsibility. Prior to serving in this role, Michelle was senior vice president and general counsel of Veritas Technologies, an enterprise software company that spun out of Symantec Corporation, leading its global legal affairs team. Michelle has over 25 years of legal experience, both as outside and in-house counsel, leading various legal functions and working and living in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

An educator, executive, author and thought leader on implementing broad-based diversity strategies, Dr. Mary J. Lomax-Ghirarduzzi (she/her) serves as the president of the San Francisco Public Library Commission, stewarding a $160 million budget for a system of 28 city libraries. Through her leadership, SFPL won the coveted National Public Library of the Year in 2018. Mary also serves as the Vice President, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Professor of Communication for the University of the Pacific. She previously served as the inaugural vice provost and chief diversity officer at the University of San Francisco and is a leadership, organizations and diversity studies lecturer in the USF School of Education and School of Management. Mary is the founder of the Latinas in Leadership Forum, an annual empowerment and leadership conference for emerging Chicanx-Latinx leaders based in San Francisco, and the founder and principal of The DEI Leadership Group, a leadership development, diversity solutions and crisis management firm based in San Francisco.

Pilar Martinez is the CEO of the award-winning Edmonton Public Library, where she is responsible for leading 650 staff, managing a $69 million operating budget and supporting the Board of Trustees and stakeholder relations. Over the last 10 years, Pilar has successfully led and implemented capital projects totaling over $200 million. She has championed numerous innovative services, including community-led service delivery, makerspace and digital initiatives, highly popular early literacy services and speakers’ series. Pilar has a broad base of experience in executive leadership including advocacy, strategic planning, recruitment and change leadership. She holds an MLIS from the University of Alberta, a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English from Acadia University and recently completed the Institute of Corporate Directors’ Directors Education Program.

For 25 years, Dr. Michele Bria has served as CEO of Journey House, a community-based organization in Milwaukee that empowers families to move out of poverty by offering adult education, workforce readiness, youth development and family engagement programs. Journey House annually serves more than 9,000 low-income, urban youth and families. Michele convenes over 284 partnerships with local universities, community organizations and corporations to implement lifelong learning, workforce development and youth development programs that increase the quality of life in Milwaukee neighborhoods. Michele successfully negotiated over $22 million in innovative, groundbreaking public-private development agreements with Milwaukee Public Schools and Milwaukee County, which provided land homes and partnership opportunities for the new construction of a 34,000-square-foot Journey House Center for Family Learning and Youth Athletics (2012), Journey House Packers Football Stadium in Mitchell Park (2013) and Journey House Felix Mantilla Little League Fields in Baran Park (2020). As the first person in her family to attend college, she received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from Marquette University and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

Joey Crawford helps clients solve problems when the challenges they face require extensive media and marketing experience. He is someone with the ability to work with a variety of people/teams and a need to achieve outsized results through creative campaigns and interactive experiences. Joey possesses years of experience in both B2B and consumer marketing, with the ability to assess the landscape quickly, develop solutions swiftly and be mindful of the return on investment companies demand. While he works in in advertising and marketing, Joey’s mission is to help his clients solve their business challenges. Joey has a degree in International Relations/French from The Johns Hopkins University.

Heidi Daniel joined the Enoch Pratt Free Library as president and CEO in July 2017. Ms. Daniel is focused on leading Pratt into the future by breaking down barriers of access for the people of Baltimore and the state of Maryland. In 2018, she led the Pratt to becoming one of the first fine-free public library systems on the East Coast. She also managed the $115 million renovation and reopening of the historic Central Library. Coming to Baltimore from Youngstown, Ohio, Daniel served as the executive director of The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. Daniel is the daughter of a factory worker — her parents, who did not go to college, used the library in her Michigan hometown to impress upon her the importance of education. Daniel earned her bachelor’s degree in women’s studies at DePaul University and her master’s degree in library sciences at Texas Woman’s University.

Grace Nordhoff grew up in the Seattle area and then went to college and lived in Durham, N.C. for 25 years. During her time in N.C., Grace worked on the publishing staff of an alternative newspaper, earned her MSW and owned and started a bakery café. From 2000-2002, she served as a founding board member of the Durham Library Foundation. Since moving to Seattle in 2002, she has served on the board of Hedgebrook, a retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island, continuing the Nordhoff family support of this program started by her mother Nancy. Grace also has been a Seattle Public Library volunteer, serving at the Central Library’s Welcome Desk, and a regular library patron. She joined The Seattle Public Library Foundation in 2010 and served as board president from 2018-2019.

Skye Patrick is the director of LA County Library. Committed to breaking down barriers and increasing access for all, Skye introduced the iCount equity initiative, which ensures that the library services and programs address the needs of the diverse communities served throughout Los Angeles County. As the director, Skye continues to reinforce the library’s role in the community as a civic and cultural center, a hub for public information and services and an institution of literacy, innovation and lifelong learning. Skye was appointed to the Urban Libraries Council board in July 2017. In January 2019, Skye was named Librarian of the Year by Library Journal. Under her leadership, the library has also won the Library Journal 2018 Marketer of the Year award and 2019 Library of the Year award, in addition to being named a finalist for the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Medal in 2018 and 2019.

Jesus Salas is a trustee at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library. He is a very active member of the board and very involved in community events affecting the public libraries. He has been a managing attorney and is now a senior attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, a private, nonprofit law firm in Toledo, Ohio. He has been working in legal services for the past 38 years in various legal aid programs across the country, including a farm worker program. He graduated from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., with a B.A. and J.D. Jesus has been a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio Interpreter Committee and Racial Diversity Committee, in addition to various Ohio State Bar committees. He is involved in a coordinated effort with NORWELD, the State Library of Ohio and TLCPL to help agricultural farmworkers and Limited English Language residents.

Meghann Campos Silverthorn has served as a trustee of the Douglas County Libraries since February 2019. An avid consumer of library materials since learning to read as a toddler, she views this position as one of the great privileges of her life. Meghann’s passion for literacy and learning did not begin with the DCL Board of Trustees. For eight years, Meghann served as an elected director of the Douglas County School District Board of Education in Colorado, which oversees over 90 schools and 67,000 students. Elected in 2009 and reelected in 2013, she served as board president for her final two years in office. She steadily worked to foster innovation, boost student achievement and expand school choice, including the authorization of eight new charter schools and the unique Choice Scholarship Program. Meghann is a Colorado native, owner of a small fiber arts business and an alumna of the University of Colorado at Boulder, earning degrees in aerospace engineering and political science.

Rebecca Stavick is the chief executive officer of Community Information Trust, which operates Do Space, the nation's first technology library. Since opening in 2015, Do Space has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered and in the 2016 American Libraries Design Showcase. Rebecca joined the Do Space project during its earliest stages to lead the development of programs, services and operations. She actively manages Do Space relationships, direction and strategy, bringing technology industry leadership and five years of public library sector experience to her role. Prior to developing the Do Space project, Rebecca earned a MLIS degree from San Jose State University. While serving as Nebraska’s first Code for America brigade captain in 2012, she co-founded Open Nebraska, a local organization focused on open data advocacy and civic application development. Rebecca is a 2016 "40 Under 40" Omaha Business Executives award recipient.