The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has appointed Alisha Keig as director, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, effective May 10, 2023. Alisha previously served as the associate director for Equity in Schools at Beloved Community, a racial and economic equity consulting firm.
Alisha is a skilled project manager, executive coach, facilitator, and curriculum designer who has spent 10 years in the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and education sectors. For the past 5 years, Alisha’s work primarily focused on guiding organizational leadership teams to build sustainable DEI practices. She has worked with executive leaders across the United States in multiple sectors to unearth pain points, operationalize DEI commitments, construct multi-year strategic equity plans, and build capacity for change management. She is an expert professional development leader and has extensive experience customizing content, developing tools, and collecting and analyzing data. As a consultant and coach, Alisha understands the importance of leading with inquiry and co-creating a space of ownership and expertise. And as a facilitator, Alisha takes complex ideas and makes them available to any audience. She understands that for all the heaviness of DEI conversations there must be time created for warmth, joy, and humanity as well.
As ARL director, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Alisha will be responsible for actively contributing to the design, delivery, and assessment of all of ARL’s Learning programs. She will develop and implement the ARL Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility in Libraries & Archives (IDEAL) Conference; provide tools and resources to advance the Association’s DEI + Learning goals; and operationalize efforts to actualize and measure the Association’s impact related to DEI.
“Alisha is passionate about organizational DEI and she brings valuable experience working with senior and executive leaders to improve DEI practices,” said Mary Lee Kennedy, ARL executive director. “Alisha will be a tremendous addition to the ARL team, helping us strengthen our work to build an inclusive and equitable research ecosystem. We’re thrilled she is joining us.”
Alisha holds a master of public policy from Vanderbilt University, a master of education from Lipscomb University, and a bachelor of arts in English with a minor in Spanish from Wake Forest University, where she was also a four-year varsity athlete.
“I am so excited to join the team at ARL because of its focus on equitable practices in developing and preserving knowledge!,” said Alisha. “It’s important to center historically marginalized voices and histories so that those narratives are not lost. I’m excited to be a part of an organization that is prioritizing telling different stories and telling them in ways that are culturally relevant.”
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of research libraries in Canada and the US whose vision is to create a trusted, equitable, and inclusive research and learning ecosystem and prepare library leaders to advance this work in strategic partnership with member libraries and other organizations worldwide. ARL’s mission is to empower and advocate for research libraries and archives to shape, influence, and implement institutional, national, and international policy. ARL develops the next generation of leaders and enables strategic cooperation among partner institutions to benefit scholarship and society. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
