Libraries Without Borders US
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Libraries Without Borders US Staff
Nina Safane
Executive Director
Nina (she/her) is a community-based leader who has built and led systems, teams, and organizations that increase access to education and public health services. Most recently, she led COVIDCheck Colorado, a social benefit enterprise that partnered with communities across the state to support Coloradans to safely return to community amidst the pandemic. Prior to this work, as co-founder of the Girls Athletic Leadership Schools, Nina spent over 10 years designing, building, and leading an innovative school model in Denver, Colorado. She worked as a coach for rising school leaders within the network and through Columbia University’s Summer Principal Academy. Nina has a BA in Education Studies from Brown University and an MA in Education from Columbia University.
Kat Edmiston
Development & Research Coordinator
Kat Edmiston (she/her) is eager to support LWB’s mission of expanding access to information through her role as Development Associate. In this capacity, she works on grant writing, prospecting, donor stewardship, fundraising events, and capital campaigns. Previously, Kat worked in research, studying trauma-informed practices for education and institutional barriers to long-term school success. She recently graduated from the University of Chicago with an M.A. in Social Sciences and a B.A. in Law, Letters, and Society.
Eden Gebregiorgis
Communications & Design Specialist
Hailing from Chicago, Eden (she/her) is an Eritrean-American who is passionate about empowering youth and communities through education and digital inclusion. She obtained a Master of Public Policy focused on education and communications and has worked across public, private, and nonprofit organizations. She studied and lived in Germany for over three years, enjoys traveling and learning about different cultures, and is an art enthusiast.
Kathryn Treder
Data Analyst
Kathryn (she/her) is especially interested in answering questions related to place, inequality, and marginalization in a data-informed manner. She graduated from Stanford University as a double major in Political Science and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity with a concentration in data science. Since graduating, Kathryn gained experience as a research associate in MIT’s Political Science Department and at Harvard’s Center for Population and Development Studies, but most recently as a data scientist at a tech start up. In her free time, Kathryn plays rugby which has allowed her to travel and build community not only across the country, but around the world.
Vanesha McGee
Program Manager
Vanesha (she/her) is a community advocate with a background in education. She has ten years of experience as an educator, building communities within classrooms. She has five years of professional writing expertise focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion across industries. Vanesha is also a photographer and poet. She develops art that uplifts stories of Black and marginalized communities. Vanesha holds a Bachelor of Arts from Temple University and a Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania.
Alex Aldarondo
Program Manager
Alex Aldarondo serves as a facilitator trainer for the Agile Learning Centers Network and as an education consultant for various independent community-based projects in Puerto Rico and abroad. Engaged in the field of education for over 15 years, Alex specializes in self-directed learning initiatives and community development framed in agile management, emergent strategies, and evolutionary stages of organizational development. He has collaborated with and helped initiate self-directed learning communities in México, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Spain, and the United States.
José Luis Vargas
Media Arts and Communications Advisor
José Luis Vargas (he/his/el) is a visual artist, art professor and independent educator and cultural community producer. He is a graduate of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, he earned an MFA at Pratt Institute and from the Royal College of Art. His paintings have been exhibited across the world. José Luis served as community radio coordinator for the Channel 6 Communication Project, and he has created youth media centers for various non profits. In 2011, he founded the first youth media center for Boys and Girls Club in Puerto Rico which created and produced comic books and video campaigns and spots touching on human rights and health-related themes.
Board of Directors
Patrick Weil
Chairman of the Board
Founder
Georges Lurcy Visiting Professor of Law and Senior Research Scholar in Law
at Yale Law School
Senior research fellow at the French National Research Center in the University of Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne
Peter Sahlins
Deputy Chairman of the Board
Director of Interdisciplinary Studies Department and Professor of History at UC Berkeley
Yves Istel
Deputy Chairman of the Board
Senior Advisor, Hanseatic LLC
Katherine Reisner
Co-Secretary of the Board
Senior Counsel at States United Democracy Center
Ramona Naddaff
Co-Secretary of the Board
Associate Professor of Rhetoric at UC Berkeley
Nicholas C.E. Walter
Treasurer of the Board
Counsel
Jones Day
Rebecca Duane
Adjunct Assistant Professor, NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Owen Fiss
Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law School
Nate Hill
Executive Director, Metropolitan New York Library Council
Mary Lee Kennedy
Executive Director, Association of Research Libraries
Jo Ling Kent
Broadcast Journalist
Amber Koonce
NAACP Legal Defense Fund/Fried Frank Fellow
Sara McDougall
Professor, John Jay College and the CUNY Graduate Center
Antonio García Padilla
Dean Emeritus, University of Puerto Rico School of Law
Eric Parrie
Leadership, Alvea
Gary Stewart
Managing Director, Techstars NYC
CEO, FounderTribes
Chelsea Stieber
Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Catholic University
Tse-Sung Wu
Biotech Drug Development Leader