Cast Your Vote!
The ballot for the 2023-2024 election is now available. Members must log in to access the ballot and vote. Voting is open through Thursday, April 13; results will be announced in early May. Candidates appear below in alphabetical order.
Election Overview
| President-Elect: | Meredith Adinolfi | Sai Konda | Heather Staines |
| Treasurer: | Emilie Delquié | Jon Gurstelle | Anna Wetterberg |
| At-Large Members: |
Kelly Denzer | Yael Fitzpatrick | Simon Holt |
| Keith Layson | Sophie Reisz | Damita Snow |
Candidates for President-Elect
Meredith Adinolfi, Vice President, Publishing Operations, Cell Press
Bio: Meredith Adinolfi started her career in publishing as a copyeditor and has built on that foundation for the past 20 years. Currently, she oversees production and editorial operations for a growing journal portfolio. This involves broad oversight of the submission, pre-acceptance, production, and print and online publishing processes. She also contributes to the strategic vision of Cell Press and, with a Six Sigma green belt, focuses on workflow optimization and evolution. Meredith enjoys the small publisher feel of Cell Press but also benefits from being part of Elsevier, which rounds out the perspective she can offer as a member of the SSP community and, for the past three years, as a board member at large.
SSP has significantly impacted Meredith’s personal development and pursuit of her professional passions. One of those passions is developing people, and she loved serving for two years as co-chair of the Career Development Committee and helping to launch and grow the thriving Mentorship Program. She is also the co-host of SSP’s Early Career Development podcast, which has been a fascinating challenge and has allowed her to connect with the community in a whole different way. But her most rewarding SSP role thus far has been as a mentor to others in our community.
Vision Statement: I am humbled to be considered for SSP President and grateful for this opportunity to reflect on my vision for a community that has given me so much over the years. I’ve loved watching SSP members embrace our core values of community, inclusivity, adaptability, and integrity. I know that work over the next several years will involve further embedding these values in everything from strategy to personal interactions.
One of SSP’s greatest strengths is how we support those at all career levels and put a strong focus on developing the next generation of publishing professionals. Because this is also a personal passion of mine, I feel a strong connection to SSP’s objective to give young professionals a safe space to learn, discuss, and build networks. As President, I would love to even further engage our early-career colleagues to shape our organizational strategy, develop our programming, and evolve our offerings. Via the podcast, I’ve learned just how hungry early-career professionals are for foundational information about the dynamic and ever-changing concepts and ideas that shape our industry. I see it as our leadership responsibility to help these critical members of our community to build strong and diverse foundations that will allow them to create their own viewpoints and ideas and then use their voices to carry forward our fast-paced industry in new and modern directions. I find it exciting and powerful to think about the potential of bringing together new and experienced voices to shape this special community!
Sai Konda, Associate Publisher, American Chemical Society
Bio: Sai Konda’s career in scholarly publishing began as a serendipitous alternative to research in the chemical industry. He had experienced the ‘other side’ of publishing as an author and reviewer while pursuing Master’s and doctoral degrees and a post-doctoral stint at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Delaware, respectively. His first job following graduate school was serving as a Managing Editor in the Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Sai is currently an Associate Publisher overseeing the strategic and financial management of a portfolio spanning different disciplines in chemistry and has managed over twenty journals in his tenure at the ACS.
Sai’s strong association with SSP began with an Early Career Fellowship in 2017 and volunteering on the Early Career Subcommittee. He went on to co-Chair the subcommittee for a year and continues to be actively engaged in the Career Development Committee. He has served SSP as a member of the Board of Directors since 2020, as a member of the Executive Committee, and as a Board liaison on the Community Engagement and Education Committees. When the opportunity arose, he contributed content to The Scholarly Kitchen through my association with the early-career community.
Vision Statement: I have experienced first-hand the community and mentorship spirit of SSP through my experiences as an Early Career Fellow, a co-Chair and more recently as a Board Member which has greatly benefited my personal and professional growth in the publishing industry. A society’s strength is its membership, and that member engagement is what makes SSP unique – serving all career levels in the industry; be it an author, reviewer, or editor; non-profit or commercial publisher; funder; librarian; vendor, or a technology provider.
My priorities would focus on building and strengthening initiatives that nurture this collaborative environment at SSP. It’s imperative that our ideas and actions are built on a strong foundation of SSP’s core values of community, adaptability, inclusivity, and integrity. We have made significant strides in incorporating DEIA in our activities and programming and should strive to dismantle barriers to build a more representative and inclusive organization. I would continue to emphasize SSP’s growth mindset and adaptability to transform obstacles to opportunities for the long-term sustainability of the organization. My vision for SSP is an engaged and diverse community to elevate the Society’s role as a leading voice in shaping the future of scholarly communications. I am honored to be considered as a candidate for SSP’s President-elect, and for the opportunity to give back to the community in a larger capacity.
Heather Staines, Senior Strategy Consultant, Delta Think
Bio: Originally trained as a historian, Heather has more than 25 years of experience in scholarly communications with roles ranging from editorial director to e-product manager to business development. She has worked with books, journals, and databases and has extensive experience working with publishers and libraries from around the globe. An over-volunteerer, she’s passionate about giving back through committee work, educational programming, and mentorship programs. She has a Ph.D. in Military and Diplomatic History from Yale University.
Vision Statement: Before my first SSP meeting, I was only vaguely aware of the large role volunteers play in the ongoing success of most industry organizations. Afterward, I found myself on two committees, and I’ve never looked back. Industry service has been the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my career, and I encourage my mentees to get involved as soon as they can.
We often find ourselves operating in silos when appreciating what other teams are doing is critical. When I started as Global eProduct Manager for SpringerLink, I asked to meet folks in editorial and production. Many on my team were stunned; surely marketing and sales contacts were all I’d need. “Content doesn’t fall from the sky and end up in SpringerLink; there are a lot of people needed to make that process work.” I didn’t believe I could understand the platform and the products without getting to know the people behind it. Be curious. Ask Questions. Listen to the answers.
In this environment where remote work affords new opportunities, we need to be creative to forge and maintain that focus on people and career development. In particular, in this relationship-centered structure, we need to ensure that underrepresented groups can see themselves in key roles.
Finally, everyone who knows me knows my extreme interest in educational programming. We need to continue to find new ways to highlight the importance of topics that might, at first glance, seem boring. Let’s get excited about what it takes to get the job done!
Candidates for Treasurer
Emilie Delquié, Director, Copyright Clearance Center
Bio: Emilie Delquié’s career in publishing spans various organizations, including the University of Massachusetts Library and PCG, the sales and marketing consulting division of Ingenta, where she advised publishers on how to navigate the institutional market for eight years. In 2014, Emilie joined Copyright Clearance Center to manage strategic accounts and later the Rightsholders Relations and Global Alliances teams, where she was involved with hundreds of publishers and societies worldwide. Currently, Emilie is on family leave from CCC until June, working on various projects while pursuing an Executive MBA.
Now the Treasurer since 2020, Emilie has been very fortunate to be involved with SSP over the last 15 years as a Board Member, co-Chair of the Annual Meeting Program Committee and of the Career Development Committee, overseeing the wonderful Fellowship program. In addition to navigating the budget uncertainty of the last three years, she participated in gaining corporate support for the Generations Fund and several other task forces.
Vision Statement: SSP has been an integral part of my publishing career, and I have always considered it one of the leading platforms for industry expertise, networking opportunities, and open-mindedness. I am constantly impressed by how dedicated SSP volunteers are and by how well the organization faced the challenges of the last three years. The decisions made by the SSP team showed flexibility, creativity, boundless energy, and amazing resilience, which led to an overall stable financial position.
During my first term, I was very supportive of growing programs engaging professionals of all career levels and will continue to do so. The Fellowship and Mentorship programs and the Generations Fund are evidence of the genuine value we can collectively bring to our industry.
In addition, we need to continue to share even more perspectives: not only through our excellent programming but initiatives that bring diverse stakeholders’ voices together to encourage meaningful discussions are critical.
Being part of this inclusive and engaged community has truly been a privilege. I have learned so much over the last three years as Treasurer; it would be a great honor to have the opportunity to be involved in SSP’s continued growth for a second term.
Jon Gurstelle, Senior Director, Publications, American Political Science Association
Bio: Jon Gurstelle started his publishing career at Blackwell Publishing in 2006. Since then, he has worked on both the commercial and non-profit sides as well as in books and in journals covering several different subject areas. His career has taken him to Springer, Wiley, and most recently, the American Political Science Association, where, as Senior Director of Publications, he oversees a program of 25 journals, books, and a preprint server and has a budget of $1.5m and four direct reports.
Jon has served on the SSP Finance Committee since 2018 under the excellent leadership of Treasurers Emilie Delquie and, previously, Byron Laws. He was part of the group that created and named the Generations Fund, a cause he continues to support and whose growth has become a great success. He serves on the DC Regional Committee, organizes many local events, and is currently a mentor in the SSP Mentorship Program.
Vision Statement: As we know from our own organizations, the challenges brought on by the pandemic, combined with stock market declines, have created more uncertainty about societies’ financial state than we have seen in many years. On the Finance Committee, we successfully dealt with several challenging years, including two canceled in-person Annual Meetings. In each case, with the help of Melanie Dolechek and the staff, we managed to deliver the SSP Board both a realistic and managed budget each year. Having a healthy balance sheet is key to SSP delivering its critical mission of advancing scholarly communication and the development of its members.
As Treasurer, I plan to work with the Finance Committee, the Board, and the large body of volunteers to help fulfill President Randy Townsend’s vision of continuing to make SSP a home for diverse voices from across the industry and ensure a financially responsible future. I will be open to feedback from the entire membership and will always work in a collaborative and transparent way with the Board, the committee, and the staff. I am extremely grateful for this nomination and for the time, devotion, and fantastic ideas that have come from our member volunteers.
Anna Wetterberg, Director, Scientific Stature Services, RTI Press
Bio: Anna Wetterberg, PhD, directs RTI Press, the Open Access publishing arm of the nonprofit research institute RTI International. Anna sets the strategic direction for the Press, manages resources, and collaborates with editors, authors, designers, and other partners to reach broad audiences and advance new initiatives. In addition, she works closely with library colleagues to advance Open Science and enrich scholarly communications throughout the research life cycle at RTI. A sociologist by training, Anna continues to publish research on strengthening local governance and public service delivery.
Anna currently co-chairs SSP’s Finance Committee and is a member of the SSP Data Analytics Task Force. She also serves on OASPA’s Communications Committee and previously worked with colleagues on SSP’s Raleigh/Durham Community Engagement Committee to organize social and educational events around the Research Triangle. Learn more about Anna’s journey to scholarly publishing on her SSP Professional Profile: https://www.sspnet.org/careers/professional-profiles/anna-wetterberg/
Vision Statement: SSP has played a big part in my successful shift from research to publishing. The Scholarly Kitchen introduced me to the dynamism and intriguing opportunities inherent in scholarly publishing, inspiring me to change careers. Since then, I have found a community of colleagues in SSP from whom I continue to learn.
Having gained so much from SSP, I want to do my part to ensure that the Society continues to offer rich resources for knowledge and engagement. As co-chair of the Finance Committee, I have been guided by SSP values of integrity and adaptability to preserve and grow the Society’s resources. I have initiated a restructuring of our reserves so that SSP can effectively manage the risks of turbulent markets without jeopardizing our long-term investments. Also, I am leading an effort to consider whether SSP’s portfolio should be recalibrated to align better with our core values. Finally, I bring the perspective of a researcher and small Open Access publisher to the Board of Directors. I am grateful for the Nomination Committee’s confidence in me and the opportunity to collaborate with others on the Board to grow SSP for all our members.
Candidates for Member-at-Large
Kelly Denzer, Collections Strategist and Discovery Librarian, Davidson College
Bio: Kelly Denzer’s introduction to SSP came through an email forwarded from a professor to all library students in her program calling for Travel Grant applications (now Fellowships) to the 2015 Annual Meeting; after being awarded a grant and attending the Annual Meeting that year, she was hooked. This community is welcoming, eager to embrace new faces, and engage in meaningful conversations around challenges and solutions within the scholarly publishing ecosystem. Exhilarating!
Kelly is lucky to work with SSP’s incredible staff and volunteers as a member and past co-chair of the Career Development Committee, focusing primarily on the Fellowship program. It is an honor each year to welcome new library and publishing students and early career professionals into the SSP community. The genuine excitement she sees with each new cohort reminds her of the importance SSP has played in her career and professional development.
Vision Statement: I see the current programming and future initiatives continuing the mission of SSP with a focus on professional development, diverse membership, and evolving the ways we foster members through meaningful engagement. I would be honored to serve on the SSP Board and work with all of you to continue our momentum, building a strong community of support for current and future scholarly communication professionals.
Yael Fitzpatrick, Editorial Ethics Manager, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Bio: Yael Fitzpatrick has been in scholarly communication for more than 25 years, working and collaborating with numerous sectors of the community, including editorial, design, production, marketing, and ethics, and working for organizations including AAAS, AGU, and now the National Academy of Sciences.
SSP has been her professional home for years, and she is honored to have contributed to the Society through service on multiple committees and task forces and to have served as a mentor, including for two past SSP Fellows. She has been a member of the Membership and Marketing Committees, The Scholarly Kitchen Cabinet, the 40th Anniversary Task Force, and the Branding Task Force (including as co-chair), which was responsible for the development of SSP’s current logo. A highlight of her service to SSP was her years serving on the Annual Meeting Program Committee, culminating with four years as co-chair. She is humbled and grateful to have been given the SSP Appreciation Award for her work on both the Branding Task Force and the Annual Meeting Program Committee.
Vision Statement: SSP is a beautiful example of symbiosis, an organization with tremendous support for its members and with its members providing tremendous support in turn. It speaks volumes that a high percentage of members choose to volunteer their support in various ways. I would like to explore ways to further increase engagement among members and between members and the organization, whether that means providing more opportunities for people to be involved or just making everybody feel a part of the whole. SSP’s mission, vision, core values, and strategic goals are instrumental to the society’s ongoing success and growth, and the organization has done great things to focus on early career members and issues of DEIA in particular. If elected, I will continue to support these values and push them even further when possible. There is always more work to do.
I have received so much from my involvement with SSP over the years, professionally and personally, and it has always been important to me to give back through my service to the organization. It would be my honor to continue to give back through my contribution as a member of the SSP Board, drawing from my experience and my strength in forging connections between people throughout our organization and the industry at large.
Simon Holt, Head of Central Strategies, Content Acquisition, Elsevier
Bio: In the course of his career, Simon Holt has worked across books and journals. He is currently Head of Central Strategies in Elsevier’s Content Acquisition Team. He focuses on improving outcomes for people through advocacy and collaboration. As a person with a disability, he has learned to appreciate the value of diverse perspectives to solve problems and create an inclusive environment for all. He has taken leadership roles in several cross-industry initiatives, advocating for greater integration of DEIA principles in our work.
SSP brings together the things Simon values – community, equity advocacy, learning, and ideas exchange. He serves on four SSP committees – the Annual Meeting Programme Committee, the DEIA Committee, the Scholarly Kitchen Cabinet, and the UK Regional Committee. Due to their work together, several SSP colleagues have become friends, and Simon was honoured to receive SSP’s Emerging Leader Award in 2020. Put simply, SSP is a community where he feels at home.
Vision Statement: I believe that change happens one conversation at a time. I see SSP as a forum for the conversations that progress our industry – whether regarding people, products, processes, or policies. SSP is a broad collective including, amongst others, publishers, librarians, and vendors of varying sizes, time zones, and cultures. I envision my role as a Board Member as helping facilitate and encourage these conversations – ensuring equitable representation of views and making it easy for everyone to participate.
I was initially attracted to scholarly publishing because I liked the prospect of turning ideas into something tangible, like a book. This continues to motivate me today, even if the tangible outcome has changed over time. Whether it’s a programme, a workflow, or a webinar, the challenge is the same: how can we work together to remove roadblocks, enabling people – authors, researchers, or colleagues – to contribute their best work?
There is no monopoly on good ideas; SSP enables us to come together, share perspectives, and learn from one another. Success means actively including voices from across our industry through, for example, focus groups, events, and toolkits. If I am elected, I will work hard to ensure we highlight perspectives from across our membership and beyond.
Keith Layson, Manager, Sales, Partnerships, and Initiatives, Annual Reviews
Bio: Keith Layson’s career in scholarly publishing started shortly after he finished college in 2007. After a brief time in editorial at the Journal of Neuroscience, he has since spent most of his career in institutional site-licensing at the Society for Neuroscience, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and now at Annual Reviews. In his current role, he manages sales, partnerships, and initiatives in North America, Latin America, and Australasia. He’s assisted in both the successful launch and recent expansion of their open access program, Subscribe to Open, to all Annual Reviews’ journals. He’s been a member of SSP’s membership committee since 2015, having co-chaired the committee for one 3-year term. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, kayaking, and cycling. He’s also recently begun working on obtaining his master naturalist certification through a pilot program at Washington State University.
Vision Statement: In recent years, we’ve seen a multitude of continuing and new societal challenges. Some of these challenges have questioned and, in some cases, changed the ways in which we conduct business. As a society, SSP plays a key role in providing its members with the resources and tools necessary to address challenges and identify opportunities individually and collectively as a community.
Should I be elected, my goal will be to ensure that SSP continues to provide the most relevant knowledge and know-how to allow individuals and organizations to adapt to our ever-changing environment. To achieve this, I’d like to build upon the work and impact of the Generations Fund in its support of fellowship, mentorship, and DEIA. As well as growing the reach of SSP’s membership: geographically, demographically, and in scope. Increasing the diversity of perspectives and viewpoints in our programming and publications will be crucial in providing the comprehensive overview necessary to identify and address the current and upcoming challenges and opportunities in our industry.
I’m very appreciative of the nomination to run for a seat on the Board. As both a membership committee member and a former co-chair, I certainly understand the responsibility of this position, and it’s not one I take for granted. I would be honored to have your support.
Sophie Reisz, Vice President and Executive Editor, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Bio: Sophie Reisz is the Vice President & Executive Editor at Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., overseeing academic journal operations for over 100+ hybrid and OA titles, peer review operations, and author services for the firm. As an experienced academic publisher and relationship manager, her main interests lean towards anything related to STEM journal publishing strategy, peer review operations, author services, open access and open research initiatives, and product development. In her volunteer roles at SSP, she has had the great honor of being appointed Lead of the New Directions Seminar four years in a row (2019 – 2022) and is proud to have contributed directly to the significant growth of attendance of this important annual SSP summit. She was and continues to be tremendously honored to receive the 2021 SSP Appreciation Award and to now serve as Co-Chair of the SSP Education Committee.
Vision Statement: SSP’s mission is “to advance scholarly publishing and communication, and the professional development of its members, through education, collaboration, and networking,” and I am honored to confirm that SSP and the entire SSP community have provided this exact experience and more as I have served as a volunteer, mentor, student, and participant over the course of many years within this wonderful community.
Participating as a volunteer within SSP was a personal and professional dream come true in 2018 when I was seeking to find “my people” in the academic publishing world. Now, five years later, I can say with proud appreciation that SSP, and the community in which it serves, have single-handedly transformed my experience as an academic publisher, as a professional, as a mentor, and as a person. With over four years of service as Lead of the New Directions Seminar and now in my new role as Co-Chair of the SSP Education Committee, I have had the personal honor to build, shape, curate, and collaborate with many of you as we collectively worked together to provide a meaningful open dialogue to better the world in which we participate.
As a nominee of the Board, I will dedicate my time in service to continue to give back to the community what I have been so grateful to receive through this extraordinary volunteer experience. If elected, I would actively engage with the SSP staff, Board, community, and committees to contribute to the meaningful experiences and robust foundations that have helped me grow as an individual. I would dedicate myself to expanding meaningful programs focused on industry impact and growth, career development, diversity, and inclusion in our industry. And, with humility and pride, I will work towards ensuring this exceptional community, built on the shoulders of past, present, and future SSP volunteers and leadership remains a resource for young professionals and established executives for many years to come. Thank you for your consideration.
Damita Snow, Senior Manager, Publishing Technologies, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Bio: At the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Damita Snow, CAE, is the senior manager of publishing technologies and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility specialist. She has held several positions at ASCE related to technology, design, and publishing. She was a member of ASCE’s Leadership Academy, a mentor in the staff mentorship program, and appointed to a special task committee charged with defining ASCE’s staff values. Damita is also the immediate past chair of ASCE’s Staff Diversity & Inclusion Council, a group that she founded and developed within ASCE. Last, of all, she is also passionate about sharing her knowledge of DEIA and has been a speaker, writer, and collaborator on projects related to this topic for several organizations. Damita has also presented on topics related to ethical AI at the ASAE Technology Conference and at SSP’s Annual Meeting.
Damita currently serves as an AM&P Network Associations Council advisory board member. She also co-chairs the Publications Special Interest Group for the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives. She is also a member of the Research Committee, a branch of the Research Foundation, for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). Prior to joining the ASAE Research Committee.
Vision Statement: At the first SSP Annual Meeting I attended, I heard Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble speak. Dr. Noble was the Annual Meeting keynote and wrote the book, Algorithms of Oppression. While I was familiar with the many aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion work, algorithmic bias was new to me. At the time, I was a member of the SSP diversity and inclusion task force and therefore felt that SSP was aware of the myriad of issues affecting people from marginalized communities. After that meeting, I knew that SSP was an organization focused on the future of scholarly publishing, and I wanted to be a part of that journey.
It is my goal to embody the core values of SSP in all that I do as a volunteer. I’ve been an active participant on the Annual Meeting Planning Committee, Membership Committee, Early Career Subcommittee, as well as the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Committee. I have seen the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force evolve into the impactful DEIA Committee that it is today to strengthen our community. I am thankful to have been a part of that growth as DEIA co-chair and original Task Force member. It is an honor to have worked with so many publishing professionals, partners, and allies on C4DISC projects. I was a member of the team that produced the Guidelines for Inclusive Language and Images, am currently on the team producing the latest Workplace Equity Survey, worked on all three Antiracism Toolkits, and co-led the team that created the Antiracism Toolkit for Organizations. I volunteer for these tasks because DEIA is a part of my DNA. It is my professional passion to welcome diverse voices to the scholarly publishing industry and ensure that we are creating safe spaces for full and equitable participation.
In 2021, I was humbled to receive recognition for my volunteer service by receiving the 2021 SSP Volunteer Appreciation Award. Whether I’m chosen to be a board member or not, I will continue to uphold the value of SSP and the committees, and it is my hope to make even more of an impact within SSP at the board level.
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