Speakers | Next Library Satellite 2020

Ciara Eastell OBE

Independent Consultant (United Kingdom)

Ciara is an established leader in implementing positive change.  She is currently leading a major transformation and cultural change programme at Tate.  She is also a Professor of Practice in the Centre for Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter.

She was previously the Chief Executive of Libraries Unlimited, a nationally-renowned charity  which trials new and innovative models for delivering modern library services. A chartered librarian for over 20 years, Ciara led the establishment and start-up phase of Libraries Unlimited.

She was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours in 2017 for services to Libraries and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield in 2019.  She is on the National Council of Arts Council England and the British Library’s Advisory Council.  She served as President of the Society of Chief Librarians from 2014 – 2016 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Ciara and Stephanie will be co-presenting on the theme of risk and failure.

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Stephanie Chase

Founder, Constructive Disruption; former Director of Libraries, City of Hillsboro, Oregon (United States)

Stephanie is an accomplished innovator and change leader, with significant experience leading organizational design and effectiveness and community engagement initiatives. With more than twenty years of experience in local and municipal government, Stephanie has served a wide range of communities large and small.

Prior to her most recent directorship in Oregon, Stephanie coordinated service strategies to libraries for BiblioCommons, was the Director of Library Programs and Services for The Seattle Public Library, a founding member and inaugural chair of national advocacy organization LibraryReads, and the founder of the Green Mountain (VT) Library Consortium. Stephanie currently serves on the Public Library Association's Board of Director, the American Library Association's governing Council, and is an active member in Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL).

Stephanie and Ciara will be co-presenting on the theme of risk and failure.

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Professor Peter Greste

UNESCO Chair in Journalism and Communication, University of Queensland (Australia)

Professor Peter Greste is an Australian-born journalist, author, media freedom activist and academic. He is a founding member of the advocacy group, the Alliance for Journalists Freedom, and the UNESCO Chair in Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland. 

Before joining the university in January 2018, he spent 25 years as a foreign correspondent, starting with the civil war in Yugoslavia and elections in South Africa as a freelance reporter in the early 90’s, before joining the BBC as its Afghanistan correspondent in 1995. He went on to cover Latin America, the Middle East and Africa for the BBC. 

He hit the headlines himself in December 2013, when he and two colleagues were arrested in Cairo on terrorism charges. They were convicted and sentenced to seven years in a case that drew international condemnation as an attack on press freedom.  

Under pressure, Professor Greste was released and he went on to become a champion of press freedom around the world. His stance has earned him numerous international awards, including the Australian Human Rights Commission Medal, the RSL’s 2016 ANZAC Peace Prize, and the Australian Press Council’s 2018 Press Freedom award.

Peter will speak on the theme of courageous conversations

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Opeta Alefaio

Manager, Records Management, University of the South Pacific (Fiji)

As a professional archivist with postgraduate qualifications in information management, Opeta is an expert in archival practice and ensuring the integrity of records.

Prior to his role at the University of the South Pacific, Opeta was the Director of the National Archives of Fiji (NAF). In this time, he led NAF to expand their outreach activities, bringing records to the people in far-flung areas of Fiji and significantly increasing the digital presence of the NAF.  Under his tenure, NAF obtained greater funding, almost doubled its size and expanded its operations to include a digitisation unit.

As a two-term President of Pacific Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (PARBICA), Opeta inspired new initiatives within the organisation, forming a coalition of national archivists across the Pacific, initiating valuable professional development programs and hosting international archivists for work placements with NAF.

Opeta passionately promotes the importance of archives and recordkeeping in improving people’s lives and attaining global goals to reduce poverty.

Opeta will be presenting on the theme of bridging the gap.

Find Opeta on social media
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