BC Library Conference 2019

With over two decades of experience in strategic and operational planning and implementation, Nicki Kahnamoui partners with mission-driven organizations in envisioning, realizing and improving new and existing organizations, projects, programs, and processes. Nicki has worked in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors, in various industries and different countries. She has an MA in interdisciplinary studies, a Project Management Professional certificate as well as a certificate in Dialogue and Civic Engagement. Nicki is also a mixed media visual artist. linkedin.com/in/NikNazK

Beth Davies is Chief Librarian of Burnaby Public Library. She has worked in public libraries since 1999, including leadership roles at Vancouver Public Library as Neighbourhood Services Manager and Head of the Carnegie Branch. Beth is vice-chair of the BC Libraries Cooperative. She is passionate about the critical role that public libraries play in connecting with communities, in making our library spaces accessible to all community members, and in meaningfully engaging with communities outside our walls to provide relevant and responsive service.

Archana Rampure is the Director of Research, Job Evaluation and Health & Safety for CUPE National. Archana has worked with CUPE for a decade; before that she worked for the federal NDP. In a previous life, Archana taught literature and cultural studies and holds a PhD from the University of Toronto. She also did research into the history and culture of reading popular fiction as a SSHRC post-doctoral fellow at Dalhousie.

Leanna Jantzi is Head of Fraser Library at Simon Fraser University's Surrey Campus and a settler who lives on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam peoples. Prior to SFU, she held positions at Capilano University and Okanagan College libraries and came to librarianship after a career in community news reporting. As she navigates through and grapples with the messiness and challenges of intellectual freedom, she is grateful for any and all collective and inclusive discussions on the topic.

Living on the unceded Indigenous land belonging to the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Nations and working with the membership of the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) Faculty and Staff Association provides Kyla with the opportunity to decrease isolation within an organization and foster community through relationships built on trust, connection, accountability and shared values. Kyla believes organizations are at their best when they seek opportunities for dialogue over debate, are inclusive, and use process to advance, not hinder, work. Cross-sectoral learning supports her to be effective, curious and innovative in her efforts to influence change while establishing best practices. Kyla is a past Director with the BC Library Trustees Association (BCLTA), and a past Chair of Vancouver Public Library. She currently serves on the boards of FACE BC and the Vancouver Writers Festival.