ACURIL 2024 Guyana

Erick Toussaint worked at FOKAL (Fondation Connaissance et Liberte) from 2009 to 2022, first as a trainer and then as coordinator of the library program. He was a member of the second cohort of INELI (International Network of Emerging Library Innovators organized by the Global Libraries division of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Previously, he served as a personal and institutional member of ACURIL’s executive council and is currently the president of the Association. He previously worked at a community librarian and has a degree in Computer Science.

Prof. Paloma Mohamed is the eleventh Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana. She is a full Professor of behavior and strategic communications noted as a futurist scholar for her work on change in both humans and human systems. Her recent work onthe effects of technology on human life systems is of international interest. She is the first woman to lead the University in its 60-year history. She is also the first woman to be appointed Vice Chancellor at any University in the Anglo-phone Caribbean. Prof Mohamed had led the University of Guyana’s Transitional Management Committee as its 2 nd Chair since Aug 2019. She has also been Deputy Vice Chancellor, Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement known as PACE, a department which she founded in 2016. Prof. Paloma Mohamed has also served as an adjunct Prof of cultural diplomacy at Trent University. She has won the coveted Guyana Prize for Literature on 3 occasions. She been awarded two Presidential Medals in 2012 and in 2015 as well as A City of New York Award for Culture in 2013, 1n 2014 she was named by the US embassy in Guyana amongst the top 5 most influential women in the country. In 2015, she became the first woman Caribbean Laureate for Excellence in Arts and Letters, considered the Nobel prize of the Caribbean. Her literary and academic work are on two CXC syllabi and is studied in Universities in the USA, Canada and England. Prof. Mohamed has authored over 20 books and produced 15 films. She was Artistic Director for Carifesta X held in Guyana in 2008. She founded CineGuyana in 2009 and also currently serves as Chair of the Theatre Guild of Guyana. Prof Paloma Mohamed Martin is a beloved teacher and humanist who has been variously referred to as a servant leader and a Titanium butterfly.

Jean Baptiste Marc, Master of Science in Information Technology and Management, has built a career around information systems and technology management. He honed his skills in data analysis and business intelligence, with a focus on automating small libraries using open-source software.

He founded Logipam, a company dedicated to promoting the integration and development of open-source technology in Haiti. For over a decade, Marc has played a significant role in integrating and implementing various information systems designed to collect, process, and analyze data for small and medium-sized businesses.

Marc is always exploring new technologies and has recently expanded his expertise into the finance sector. His ongoing commitment to learning and adaptation is what keeps him at the forefront of technological advancements.

Judith C. Russell holds a Master of Science in Library Science from the Catholic University of America and has served as the Dean of University Libraries at the University of Florida in Gainesville since May 2007. Previously, Russell held multiple positions with the U.S. Government including as Managing Director, Information Dissemination and Superintendent of Documents at the Government Printing Office. Active in the professional library community Russel is a former board member and past president of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries and a former board member of the Association of Research Libraries. She is active in the American Library Association and the Association for College and Research Libraries. She is Chair of the Board of Directors for Oak Hammock at the University of Florida and a board member of the University of Florida Press, the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), LLMC Digital, and CHORUS.

Nancy S. Kirkpatrick is the Dean of Libraries at Florida International University in Miami. She joined FIU in Fall 2023 after nearly five years as the Executive Director and CEO of OhioNet, a multitype library consortium representing a diverse membership throughout Ohio and the region. Kirkpatrick practiced non-profit law and advocacy before entering the library space, where she has over 15 years of experience. An ALA Spectrum Scholar, she holds an MS in Library and Information Science from the iSchool (formerly GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a JD from the School of Law at the University of Richmond, and a BA in Journalism from Drake University. Kirkpatrick has been a board member on the Open Library Foundation since 2021, the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) since 2023, and currently serves as Vice-Chair for the Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC) Members Council on Library Services.

Nesha Z. Haniff was born in Triumph Village East Coast Demerara. She attended Central High School and in her early childhood lived in Albuoystown and later in Russell and Charlotte streets, after which she moved to the US and received from the University of Michigan, her BA in Sociology and her PhD in the Social Foundations of Education. She also received her master’s in public health from the University of Hawaii. She lectured at the University of Michigan on race, gender and health, revolving around two of her major programs the Pedagogy of Action and the Gender Consciousness Project. Although her work spanned the Caribbean, USA and South Africa, it was her seminal work on HIV developed in Guyana with the Guyanese women’s organization Red Thread that shaped her revolutionary pedagogies for students and communities in their many global locations.

Of great significance was Nesha Haniff’s publication Blaze A Fire which highlighted the Significant contributions of Caribbean women and included women in thirteen Caribbean countries ranging from women laborers to heads of government. It was written for high school students to value the contribution of women regardless of status. At that time gender was not being taught. There have been many articles, presentations, publications, accomplishments and projects but of significance is the art catalogue 60 years of Women Artists in Guyana which she edited in 1988. Indeed she worked to support the Guyana Women Artist Association and was the catalyst of this exhibition which was historic for all artists.