SCA First Fridays: An open Q&A for emerging professionals
Friday, March 6, 2026
12:00 p.m. – 01:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time)
Calling all students and new professionals! Do you have questions about landing a job, networking, resources, managing burnout, advocating for yourself in the workplace, or more? Are you in need of a safe space to talk to archivists at different stages of their careers? Then this First Fridays session is for you! Join SCA’s Labor, Advocacy, and Public Policy Committee members and archival mentors for an “Ask Us Anything” session. Bring your questions and we’ll do our best to answer. This session will not be recorded.
The cost is $0 for SCA members; $0 for student members. This is an SCA Member event only. This session is NOT being recorded. If you are attending virtually, feel free to turn off your camera/use a pseudonym.
Please forward any questions or comments to Melissa Haley and Marissa Friedman at advocacypublicpolicy@calarchivists.org.
Registration is open through March 5.
Western Archives Institute Information Session
Friday, March 13, 2026
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time)
Join the Western Archives Institute (WAI) Management Committee from 10:00am-10:30am PST on March 13th for an info session about the 2026 WAI program.
WAI is an intensive, two-week online program that offers integrated instruction in basic archival practices. It is designed for individuals with diverse professional goals, including those whose roles require a foundational understanding of archival skills but who have little or no prior archival training; those assuming increased responsibility for archival materials; practicing archivists without formal archival education; and individuals committed to pursuing a career in archives.
This info session will include a brief presentation on the 2026 program including details about program cost, the application process, participant selection criteria, and what to expect from the program. The session will then open up for a Q&A.
Speaker Bios:
Marcella Lees serves as WAI’s Administrator. She is the Digital Archivist at the Art Institute of Chicago where she works to manage and preserve digital records for the museum and school. She worked previously at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as the Digital Archivist and Interim Director of Archives where she taught and consulted on undergraduate classes in archival processing, digital archives, and public history. She is involved with SAA as a member of the Digital Design Records Committee as well as more locally with the Chicago Collections Consortium and the Chicago Area Archivists. Prior to moving away from academic libraries, she played a very active role on the Archives Task Force for the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois developing archives webinars and resources for individuals getting started in archives. She received her MLIS from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and her Bachelors in History from Carleton College. Her research and outreach focuses on digital preservation, archives accessibility, disability advocacy, archives education, and historic data reuse.
Eric Milenkiewicz is the WAI Associate Administrator. He’s the Head of Special Collections & University Archives at California State University, San Bernardino where he oversees the library’s rare book and archival programs. His published works, focused on building indigenous digital collections and leveraging the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials, appear in The Public Historian, Journal of Western Archives, and Journal of Digital Media Management. For the past two decades he has worked in California archives, in both the UC and CSU systems, and served multiple terms on the Society of California Archivists Board, most recently as the President in 2020. He holds a Master of Library and Information Science from San José State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UC Riverside.
Dana Reijerkerk is the WAI Online Program Coordinator. She is a Data Consultant, Freelance Digital Asset Manager, and FullStack Developer who works with nonprofits, archives, museums, libraries, and creatives to manage their IT systems, databases, websites, and media. Her published works on socio-technical issues in data appear in American Archivist, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, DAM News, and Phil. Trans. B. Her community work with Indigenous peoples transcends several countries and spans from the east coast of the US to Madagascar and Japan. She’s the winner of the 2024 Society of American Archivists’ Fellows’ Ernst Posner Award and holds a Masters in Information and a Bachelors in American Indian Studies.
Sue Luftschein is President of the Society of California Archivists and serves on the WAI management committee as the SCA Board Liaison. Sue is currently Head of Special Collections in the USC Libraries. She received her MLIS from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. in Art History from the City University of New York Graduate Center. Prior to arriving at USC, she worked at the Huntington Library, and in the Institutional Records and Archives Department of the J. Paul Getty Trust. She has served on SCA’s Program, Local Arrangements, Publications, Nominating, and Western Archives Institute Management Committees, and was a Member-at-Large, 2020-2022. She is also currently a member of SAA’s Standards Committee; has served on SAA’s Technical Subcommittee for Describing Archives: A Content Standard (TS-DACS), of which she was co-chair 2019-2021; and was a member of the Encoded Archival Standards Section Steering Committee, 2019-2021. She was also a member of the OCLC Working Group on Collection Building and Operational Impact that produced the Total Cost of Stewardship report.
Check Yourself: Auditing Your Workflow With the Accessioning Best Practices
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time)
NOTE: Registration to AGM is not required to attend the pre-conference workshops.
Please forward any questions or comments to Rob Strauss and Gillian Goldberg at educationcommittee@calarchivists.org.
The cost is $50 for SCA members, $60 for non-members; and $40 for student members or unemployed/precariously employed individuals. Registration is limited to 50 participants.
Presenters:
Jaime Henderson is an Accessioning Archivist with the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, she has worked as an archivist with the California Historical Society and the San Diego History Center. She holds an MA in Women’s Studies from San Diego State University and an MLIS from San Jose State University.
Kate Dundon is the Supervisory Archivist for Special Collections & Archives at the University of California Santa Cruz, where she oversees archival collection management including accessioning, processing, and born-digital stewardship. She earned an MA in Archives and Public History from New York University, and an MLIS from Long Island University
Alexa Goff is the Intake Coordinator and Accessioning Archivist for Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Oregon. She holds an MLIS from San Jose State University and an MA in the History of Art and Architecture from University of Oregon.
Registration is open until April 13. Online payment is required.
Discovering Your Leadership Story: An Interactive Leadership Workshop
01:00 p.m. – 03:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time)
Leadership isn’t one-size-fits-all as each of us leads in different ways, shaped by our strengths, struggles, experiences, and personal growth. This workshop will take a unique, interactive approach in which participants will dive into four leadership approaches as personified by the characters in "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse" by Charles Mackesy. By examining the characters' strengths and challenges, participants will create their own leadership stories.
Through personal storytelling, reflection, and hands-on activities, the workshop will explore curiosity, encouragement, patience, and humility—and how these traits shape the way we lead in our roles and in our institutions. The workshop will also tackle impostor syndrome, confidence, setting boundaries, and the power of generous assumptions.
By the end, participants will leave with a clearer understanding of their leadership style, practical strategies for growth, and a renewed sense of purpose in their work and community.
This workshop is designed for anyone who is new to leadership or looking to reignite their leadership journey. Even if you are unsure if the word “leader” applies to you, this workshop will give you practical tools and insights to show how you may grow as a leader in your own role.
The cost is $50 for SCA members, $60 for non-members, and $40 for student members or unemployed/precariously employed individuals. Registration is limited to 50 participants.
Presenter:
Brittany M. Garcia (she/her) is a Senior Librarian at the Rancho Cucamonga Public Library, with over eleven years of experience in public librarianship. She specializes in emotionally intelligent leadership, inclusive service design, and mentoring emerging professionals. She has received multiple awards for innovation and leadership, managed high-impact grant projects, and built programs focused on safety, belonging, and lifelong learning. A passionate advocate for equity and care-centered work cultures, she serves on national ALA Rainbow Round Table committees and statewide leadership cohorts. Brittany loves to chat about audiobooks, board games, Star Wars, and Dungeon Crawler Carl.
2026 Annual General Meeting
Shifting Ground: Preserving Memory Amid Upheaval
Join us for the 2026 Virtual AGM April 15-17. Conference sessions will take place Tuesday, April 15 through Friday, April 17, with the annual SCA Leadership meeting (open to all members), on Wednesday, April 15, and SCA Board Meetings Friday, April 17.
Full conference program available here.
Two pre-conference workshops will be offered Tuesday, April 14. Registration for each workshop can be completed on their respective event pages:
Workshop 1: Check Yourself: Auditing Your Workflow With the Accessioning Best Practices
Workshop 2: Discovering Your Leadership Story: An Interactive Leadership Workshop
Registration is open until Sunday, April 12. Registration may be paid online or by check.
Checks should be made out to Society of California Archivists and mailed to Treasurer Alex Post at 982 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94608
