Cast Your Vote!
The ballot for the 2021-2022 election is now available. Members must log in to access the ballot and vote. Voting is open through Tuesday, April 13, and results will be announced in early May.
Candidate names appear below in alphabetical order.
Election Overview
| President-Elect: | Jocelyn Dawson | Laura Ricci | Miranda Walker |
| At-Large Members: | Mike Di Natale | Cason Lynley | Charlotte Roh |
| Sara Rouhi | Randy Townsend | Karin Wulf |
Candidates for President-Elect
Jocelyn Dawson, Marketing Manager, Journals and Collections, Duke University Press
Bio: I oversee the marketing of journals and electronic collections for Duke University Press. During my career, I have served on committees of the Association of University Presses and the Society for Scholarly Publishing, and I am a previous member of SSP’s Board of Directors. I served as co-chair of SSP’s Annual Meeting Program Committee twice and had the pleasure of co-founding SSP’s Durham regional events group. I currently serve on SSP’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, am active in DE&I efforts at Duke University Press and have authored several pieces on inclusion topics for The Scholarly Kitchen. The most rewarding experience of my career has been co-leading the Toolkits for Equity project to develop antiracism guides for scholarly publishing. In this role, I have worked alongside dozens of enthusiastic volunteers to develop practical guides to make our workplaces more equitable and ensure that all members of our community have the opportunity to thrive in their careers.
Vision Statement: SSP has always provided a space for members to tackle the big issues of the day—open access, new business models and technologies, and even attacks on the role of science in our society. Over the past year, SSP members have faced unprecedented challenges; they have been impacted by the pandemic and racial injustice and may have taken on increased workloads and expanded caregiving responsibilities. As we address these challenges, I see a role for SSP to support our members through expanded programming around remote work, accessibility, and organizational strategies that make equity the foundation of the work we do as publishers, librarians, vendors, and researchers. As President-Elect, I would look for ways to build upon the success of our strong mentorship and fellowship programs and increase our efforts to support members’ professional development at a range of career stages. As we pivot to more robust virtual programming options, I am excited about the opportunity to bring in more perspectives from across the world, particularly from the Global South. SSP has provided me with a warm and welcoming professional home over the years and I would be honored to have the opportunity to serve as the next SSP’s President-Elect.
Laura Ricci, Consultant at Clarke & Esposito
Bio: My career has allowed me to experience scholarly publishing from multiple perspectives, which I draw on in my current role as a Consultant at Clarke & Esposito, providing strategic consulting services for societies, not-for-profit publishers, and other organizations in the scholarly publishing ecosystem. Before joining C&E in 2018, I worked in product management roles at EBSCO, as Senior Market Analyst at Outsell, and with the digital rights licensing agency Attwooll Associates. My career began in education publishing with Houghton Mifflin and Pearson Education, including several months embedded in Pearson’s India offices through its New Directions talent exchange program. I hold an MA in International Publishing from Oxford Brookes University and a BA in English (Honors) and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.
I was elected as an SSP Board Member at Large in 2018, after serving as co-chair of the Annual Meeting Program Committee from 2015 to 2018. I have also volunteered each year since 2018 as a mentor through SSP’s Fellowship and Mentorship programs.
Vision Statement: Joining SSP a decade ago exposed me to ideas, experiences, and people that have been foundational to my career. Knowing firsthand how impactful membership can be, I care deeply about ensuring that SSP continues to increase awareness and access to opportunities within scholarly communications, and provides the tools for advancement within it.
Though confined to our home offices in 2020 (and into 2021), SSP allowed colleagues around the world to remain connected. As the pandemic recedes, SSP will play an important role in providing resources to navigate the uncertainty of a new normal. It will be a singular opportunity to ensure these connections continue to cross boundaries, geographical and otherwise, and to uphold the society’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. From my own career working across organizations, and in multiple countries, I understand the scholarly publishing industry cannot be centered around one organization type, region, or method of doing business. SSP’s core strength is its broad community — of publishers, librarians, technologists, and other stakeholders in the research enterprise — and its investment in mentorship and development for all members.
I am sincerely honored by the nomination to serve as SSP President and excited by the opportunity to help its staff and committees continue to nurture a diverse talent pool, with the networks and knowledge befitting the global research community we serve.
Miranda Walker, Senior Publisher, Wolters Kluwer
Bio: One of the things I value the most about my professional biography is that I’ve been able to sit on so many sides of the scholarly community table. Shaped by my education and military service, my experience of our industry has given me a global perspective that I have applied to my work in peer review management with the Journal of American Academy of Ophthalmology, as a Publications Director at INFORMS, and in my current role as a Senior Publisher at Wolters Kluwer.
Along the way, my SSP membership has guided my career through education, job opportunities, community, and leadership roles as a member of the SSP Board and The Scholarly Kitchen Cabinet.
I see myself as a strategist. Be the table that of an editorial board, a vendor, librarians, or of other publishers, my approach remains to understand our values, define our goals, and measure our success.
Vision Statement: To many, scholarly communications begin with a news article: they hear of a faraway discovery or medical breakthrough. But SSP members step into the process when a researcher sits with a librarian to understand how to use a discovery platform, or a manuscript is submitted for peer review; or that same manuscript is prepared to appear in a book, journal, or website. Regardless of your role as a librarian, publisher, editor, vendor, etc., your next SSP President should value the role you play in the presentation and dissemination of knowledge.
I envision the role as one where I would be elected to steer a ship that was not built by me, but by those who came before me with a dedication to advance communication among all sectors of the scholarly publication community. My role would be to keep SSP pointed forward, holding it accountable to its goals, like that of supporting equity, diversity, and inclusion; and holding it steady, so anyone interested in participating, feels welcomed and supported. As President, I will work to ensure you enjoy access to the community and the training necessary to enhance your contribution to scholarly communications. I will also focus on the importance of career development opportunities for all professional levels globally.
Candidates for Member-at-Large
Mike Di Natale, Publishing Technology Manager, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Bio: I’ve spent my career in scholarly communications at the intersection of publishing and technology, looking for ways to help organizations take advantage of new tools to strengthen their publishing output. After a brief interlude in journalism, my publishing career started at Aries Systems and eventually transitioned to the nonprofit side, first with BioOne where I served as Director of Technology and Operations and eventually to American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) where I help manage the development of the platform as Publishing Technology Manager.
SSP has been an incredible resource for me, enhancing my career with professional development, connecting me to a wide range of industry professionals, and creating lasting friendships. I have been fortunate to co-chair the Communications and Membership committees, organize annual meeting sessions as part of the Early Career Subcommittee, and help the Chefs prepare for events as part of The Scholarly Kitchen Cabinet. Serving this community has been, and continues to be, one of the highlights of my career.
Vision Statement: SSP is a tremendous resource to the young professionals of our community. I came to this industry late and participation in SSP was critical in shaping my career, providing introductions and opportunities. A decade on, I know that I was only able to take advantage of what SSP offered because I was surrounded by people who cared about my development. I want to make sure others in our community, particularly those just starting out, have the same or better opportunities to develop professionally and are welcomed into the SSP community.
Working with the Early Career Subcommittee has been the most rewarding experience of my SSP tenure. As a Board member, my priorities would extend from this group’s efforts to promote and support early career professionals in the industry. After a disruptive year, SSP must redouble its efforts to engage with our next generation of volunteers and leaders and help them be engaged and active in the community. The future of SSP is secured by continuing to attract new and diverse voices to the membership.
SSP has excellent Fellowship and Mentorship programs already and we must continue to lead in this area. Our events and programming offer a wide range of professional development opportunities and must find ways to extend out into virtual spaces, allowing for broader inclusion and impact.
Cason Lynley, Director of Marketing, Sales, and Finance, Duke University Press
Bio: I joined Duke University Press in 1999 and since then have taken on roles of expanding leadership, moving into my current position of Director of Marketing, Sales, and Finance last year. While I originally worked on journals marketing and library relations at the Press, my responsibilities grew to include books marketing and sales, customer relations, and, in 2020, finance. My department supports the Press’s overall mission of wide dissemination of scholarly books and journals while sustaining the long-term financial viability of the Press. I helped to lead the entrepreneurial approach that the Press has taken to meet the ever-changing demands of the scholarly ecosystem.
SSP has been an integral part of my career since I attended my first annual meeting in the early 2000s. In 2008, I started volunteering with SSP on the Annual Meeting Program Committee. Since then, I’ve served on the Education Committee, the Equity and Inclusion Task Force (now the DEI Committee), and again on the Annual Meeting Program Committee as both a committee member and, for four years, as a co-chair. I have also regularly served as a mentor in the SSP mentorship program as well as for one of the SSP fellows.
Vision Statement: My involvement with SSP has given me experiences that I otherwise would not have had, including working with colleagues in China and Ethiopia as well as co-leading (with exceptional co-chairs) a committee of dedicated and innovative SSP volunteers to develop and create the SSP Annual Meeting. In my work with SSP, I have sought to bring voices to the table, including those from outside of North America, people of color, and people with disabilities as well as to amplify representation from social sciences and humanities. Serving as an Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC) co-chair for four years is one of the highlights of my career. I started my term by helping to plan the 40th Anniversary Meeting in Chicago and will finish it with the first fully virtual meeting in May 2021. An accomplishment of which I am most proud is that, in collaboration with the DEI Committee, the AMPC ensured that at least one keynote speaker each year represented a historically marginalized group. These keynote speakers emphasized how equity and inclusivity strengthen the scholarly communications industry and how to expand those efforts through SSP as well as in our own organizations.
I strongly believe in the work that SSP is doing in equity and inclusion, early career development, mentorship, international outreach, and long-term sustainability. SSP has already made positive impacts on the industry in these areas and, if elected to the board, I would build on these efforts and explore ways to increase them. I am truly honored to have been nominated to run for the SSP board.
Charlotte Roh, Scholarly Communications Librarian, University of San Francisco
Bio: I currently manage the scholarly communications program at the University of San Francisco, which includes the institutional repository, a small journals portfolio, open education grants, copyright and fair use advisory, and administration of an open access policy. My work is informed by a background in academic and educational publishing (previous to my time in libraries). I am an inaugural Fellow with the Library Publishing Coalition, where my main task was the creation of An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing, a groundbreaking document that builds on the work of the Committee on Publication Ethics to address contemporary issues such as diversity, accessibility, and privacy.
Vision Statement: In spite of having spent the last 15 years engaged in scholarly publishing in some capacity, it was only when I became a librarian that I joined SSP as a library publisher, thanks to the mentorship of fellow library publishers engaged in the organization. Since then, I have seen SSP evolve over a tumultuous period of change: the disruption of open access publishing in its many flavors, the Black Lives Matter movement and the growing awareness of racism within scholarly publishing, and this current pandemic that has impacted so many and moved us completely online as a community. Throughout this time, I have sometimes struggled, but ultimately gained respect for the organization and its members in our efforts to improve not only the scholarly publishing landscape but also the professional lives of the human people who are doing this work. As a Board Member-at-Large, I would like to build on the work that has been done, both from my perspective as a library publisher and through my scholarly and advocacy work on diversity and social justice within the scholarly ecosystem.
Sara Rouhi, Director of Strategic Partnerships, PLOS
Bio: I’m currently the Director of Strategic Partnerships at PLOS focusing on developing new business models for sustainable, inclusive open access publishing. In 2020 I launched PLOS’ first collective action business model for highly selective publishing, PLOS Community Action Publishing, and have solicited over 50 partners from across the globe including consortia like the Big Ten Academic Alliance, Jisc, and CRKN. My partnerships work focuses on collaborating with mission-aligned organizations to further PLOS’ open science work.
Before coming to PLOS in 2019, I managed business development at Digital Science for both the Altmetric and Dimensions platforms and got my start in scholarly publishing at ACS Publications.
I’m involved in industry efforts in various volunteer and thought leadership capacities including SPA-OPS (Plan S), C4DISC, and other industry associations. I was honored in 2015 to be the recipient of the SSP’s Emerging Leader award, and I use what influence I have to write about issues near and dear to me including open access, metrics, career development, and diversity in scholarly communications. Recently I’ve written on our current political moment and the multifold crises we are facing globally for SSP and UKSG.
Off the clock, I’m a comedian and improviser in Washington DC. I try to bring the growth mindset sensibility that comes with the uncertainty of improv to my day job, sharing thoughts on that and more on Twitter @RouhiRoo.
Vision Statement: My vision is best illustrated by a (possibly apocryphal) story worth sharing. After SSP honored me with its Emerging Leader award in 2015 I heard that an older-than-me, white male executive commented to his table, “She won this? Why haven’t I gotten an emerging leader award?”
This story, in some ways, encapsulates the unique historical moment we face and how SSP anticipated it. The radical shift from comfortable business-as-usual to a post-Covid-George-Floyd-MAGA world upended reality for the usual power brokers and raised uncomfortable questions for all bearers-of-privilege (myself included).
As brown, biracial, immigrant Millennial, born and raised analog, but “evolved digital” (NOT born-digital), my vision for SSP in 2021 reflects my experience. It is grounded in three core goals:
- Unpacking and dismantling the barriers our industry has (actively or passively) created to accessing, creating, assessing, and disseminating knowledge equitably
- Supporting the creation of anti-racist organizations, systems, services, products, and policies built by and for the communities they serve – a truly FUBU approach
- Approaching every situation with a “growth mindset” looking for the learning moments that transform roadblocks into opportunities
By leaning into this work in a meaningful way, SSP can build the community and future leaders needed to make this “deep work” sustainable and long-term. In serving on the Board, I commit to being the gadfly that raises these (uncomfortable!) questions and reminds us of these goals. I hope you’ll join me in this essential work by electing me to the Board.
Randy Townsend, Director, Publications Operations, American Geophysical Union (AGU); Editor in Chief, GW Journal of Ethics in Publishing
Bio: I’ve dedicated 15 years in service of AGU’s publishing division. My value-driven professional career centers around the execution of progressive strategic goals, and the performance and development of an expanding portfolio of scholarly journals. I lead large teams in managing peer review operations and protecting content and process integrity. I have been a steadfast leader in policy implementation, providing oversight to allegations of misconduct and ethical considerations. I serve as a judge for the EXCEL Awards and am on the Advisory Board for the AM&P, where I co-chair the organization’s D&I initiatives. I’m the Chair for the CSE’s Webinar Subcommittee, a member of the ISMTE’s Programming Committee and serve as Co-Chair on SSP’s DE&I Committee. Additionally, I am the inaugural Editor in Chief for the GW Journal of Ethics in Publishing and am an Adjunct Professor of the MPS in Publishing program at the George Washington University.
Vision Statement: One of the biggest honors of my professional career in scholarly publishing has been in service of SSP. I remain inspired by colleagues from across organizations and complementary industries that engage wide-ranging challenges, generously sharing their time and expertise. I value the relationships that have developed through mutual respect and devotion to our profession. SSP’s leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion has demonstrated a sincere approach to expand participation through uncomfortable conversations at all levels. I have been an unofficial SSP mentee to some of the most inspirational champions in scholarly publishing and had the privilege to mentor brilliant stewards of the organization’s future. I’m proud to geek out with those that speak “Peer Review,” “Open Access” and “Editorial.”
As a Board Member, I would expand opportunities for collaboration to develop resilience to industry disruption and further the organization’s commitment to developing an inclusive professional community. I am humbled by the faith and support of those that nominated me and promise to return the respect and camaraderie that I have received from my peers that makes SSP such a special organization.
Karin Wulf, Executive Director, Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture and Professor of History, William & Mary
Bio: I am a historian. I wear a number of hats as the Executive Director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture, a research institute sponsored by William & Mary where I am a Professor of History. The OI is a non-profit, independent journal publisher, a books publisher with our partner the University of North Carolina Press, and a funder and convener for scholars and the public. An active scholar, I am completing two books this year and publish regularly in both academic and public venues. With two colleagues I co-founded Women Also Know History, a curriculum and media tool for advancing the work of women historians. My recent service includes board membership for ORCID (2017-20), and I have been writing for The Scholarly Kitchen since 2015 about humanities research, publishing models, and infrastructure.
Vision Statement: Scholarship is an essential public good; I see scholarly publishing serving the public interest best by bringing excellent research to expert and public audiences through collaborative, ethical, and transparent processes. In an era of crisis around information integrity and the legacies of bias and exclusion in our institutions and practices, scholarly publishers must meet the challenge of making both our work and these processes as accessible and transparent as possible. Accordingly, I’m most excited by SSP’s work in education, outreach, and DEI, which I see as having an integrated purpose, but I see the work of these committees and associated programs as integral throughout the organization. I always bring my perspective as a humanist to my work in publishing– there are specific issues that humanities research and publishing are facing, and questions that humanists are asking that all publishers can be asking. I respect and have learned so much from the work of SSP, and it’s an honor to be nominated for the board. I look forward to serving the organization’s mission whether in this role or otherwise.
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