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Hello! I am a policy advisor and archival educator. I have been appointed to the faculty of the University of British Columbia’s School of Information since 2021.
My book, Documenting Rebellions: A Story of Four Lesbian and Gay Archives in Queer Times (Litwin: 2020) tells the story of my deeply moving encounters with archives that have been founded as part of the North American gay and lesbian rights movement. One reviewer describes the book as a “fitting homage to the transformational power of such encounters with [a] meticulously researched and thoughtfully composed consideration” that “exudes the author's deep love and reverence for queer archives, despite (and often because of) their circuitous histories, quirky casts of characters, and shifting cultural locations” (K.J. Rawson, American Archivist). Documenting Rebellions won the 2022 American Library Association Gleason Book Award.
My academic work focuses primarily on issues in community archives theory, social movement theory, LGBTQ+ histories, archival outreach and advocacy, and recordkeeping practices.
I am an Associate Producer of a feature documentary, Parade: Love on the March, which is forthcoming with the National Film Board (NFB) in Fall 2024. My co-edited anthology, Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer (2017, Coach House) was nominated for the 2017 Toronto Book Award and received an Honourable Mention at the 2018 Heritage Toronto Awards for Historical Writing.
My professional work includes two consecutive appointments as vice president of the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA), from 2017 to 2021. In 2017, I led a strategic renewal initiative and supported the development of a professional code of conduct. In 2019, I chaired an Equity Task Force and spearheaded work on the association’s first Equity Commitments. I am currently the Managing Editor of Archivaria.
My policy work has focused on issues related to recordkeeping, information access, and privacy management in government, data governance, and artificial intelligence. I led the development of a digital recordkeeping transformation project in Ontario and co-led work on the Ontario Data Authority. I am presently leading the policy work on Ontario’s response to generative artificial intelligence.
I grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and have lived in Toronto, Seoul, and Boston. I now call Hamilton, Ontario, my home where I live with my partner Jessie, our daughter, two cats, and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
