Vanessa Wrenn Rhinesmith (she/her/hers) is the Executive Director of the UCLA Center for Critical Initiative (C2i2) where she also oversees the Minderoo Initiative on Technology and Power. Vanessa brings over 15 years of project, program, and strategy experience working with non profits, higher education institutions, and social entrepreneurs. She takes an approach to work that is rooted in critical inquiry, collaboration, and trust.

Vanessa started her journey as a social worker in Chicago, Illinois before transitioning to work centered in purpose, community, and care in relation to intersectional feminism, harm reduction, and technology and society. Vanessa received her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Simmons School of Management (Massachusetts) with a focus on women* and org behavior.

Vanessa continues to explore feminist approaches to cyber security and international relations; the role of history, narrative, and power in the creation of sex trafficking policies. She is currently cultivating a care network with and for women-identifying and gender nonconforming folx experiencing online and other forms of harassment in STEM. Vanessa has spoken at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Simmons University, Harvard Kennedy School, South by Southwest (SXSW), the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTEN), and more. Vanessa speaks, and facilitates conversations, on a variety of topics that include intersectional feminist approaches to data and digital technology; activism, advocacy, and stewardship; and community engagement.

Vanessa is also the Event Producer of the Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN), annual research conference, and Review Editor for the Journal of Community Informatics (JoCI). She lives with her husband, child (they/them), and two cats. In her (little) free time, you’ll find her running, reading graphic novels, or scuba diving (post-pandemic).

Stacy Wood (pronouns she/her) is the Director of Research for the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry. Her research and teaching interests are focused on the intersection of information technologies and cultures and practices around evidence. Her research has been published in several scholarly journals including Computational Culture and Preservation, Digital Technology and Culture. Wood holds a PhD and an MLIS from UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information and a BA in World Literature, Gender Studies and Media Studies from Pitzer College. Prior to joining the Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, Wood was an Assistant Professor at the School of Computing and Information at the University of Pittsburgh.

Megan Riley is a recent graduate of UCLA’s MLIS program focusing on labor in LIS, special collections, and archives; she was co-president of SAA @ UCLA and co-chair of UCLA’s SCA student chapter, 2019-2020. Megan begins doctoral studies in UCLA’s Department of Information Studies in Fall 2020 focusing on labor issues in libraries, archives, and museums, particularly precarious labor. She is committed to police-free libraries, and is currently organizing to demand LAPL divest from and terminate its relationship with LAPD.

Edmond is a 2nd year MLIS student pursuing the Media Archival Studies track. She is a practicing DJ, music producer, fashion designer and curator interested in the archival practices of music and art, as well as intellectual property knowledge to protect independent artists. She looks forward to building communities around electronic music with the information to write new narratives.

Ruth Livier is an UCLA Information Studies doctoral candidate, and earning a DH certificate. Her research is at the intersection of digital technologies, Latinx communities, media, and social justice. Forthcoming publications include a book chapter in the volume The Intersectional Internet II: Power, Politics and Resistance Online (2021); edited by Safiya Noble, Sarah T. Roberts, Brooklyne Gipson, and Sulafa Zidani. She returns to academia with a 20+year career in the entertainment industry.

Yvonne M. Eadon holds an MLIS from and is a doctoral candidate in Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research exists at the intersection of conspiracy theory scholarship, information seeking and behavior, and archival studies. Her most recent publication is forthcoming in a special issue of Knowledge Organization devoted to Politics, Culture, and the Organization of Knowledge.