Scholarship Winners’ Bios

Francesca D’Arista (they/them) is a Queens native attending CUNY Queens College as dual master’s student in Library Science and History. They are pursuing an advanced certificate in archives, with interests in curation, anti-colonialism, Africana Studies, and Latine/x Studies. Currently, they work as an information assistant at the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library.

Adina Karp (she/her) is a first-year student in the MLIS program at the Pratt Institute. Prior to beginning her MSLIS, she received a BA from The New School in Journalism & Design. She works as a freelance podcast producer and her past clients have included MIT, Design Observer, and Jewish Public Media

Marina Mikhail (they/them) is a student in the Master of Information program at the University of Toronto. They are interested in disability justice and anti-colonial work within libraries, archives, and museums.

Alessandra Otero Ramos (she/her) holds a bachelor’s degree in Art history and a Master of Information Science from the School of Information Science and Technology at the University of Puerto Rico. She excels as the Arts and Humanities Librarian at SUNY Geneseo, serving as the principal liaison for the Departments of Theatre and Dance, Art History, English, Music, and Philosophy. Additionally, Alessandra leads the library’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Belonging (IDEA) committee and has provided advisory support to the Latinx Student Association at SUNY Geneseo. With over 12 years of dedicated experience, she has made impactful contributions to the library and information sciences, particularly in advancing information literacy and promoting DEIB initiatives.

Allison Ransom (she/her) is the Metadata and Discovery Librarian at CUNY Hunter College. Prior to her current position, she was a cataloging librarian at the Los Angeles County Law Library and before that, an archivist at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She has a BA from Goucher College, a MA in art history from CUNY Hunter College, and a MLIS from San Jose State University.