Heidi Daniel took the helm as Executive Director of King County Library System (KCLS) in March 2024, bringing a wealth of experience and a passion for innovation. With 50 community libraries, KCLS serves over 1.6 million people and is the third-highest digital circulating library system in the world.  

Daniel’s career began with transformative children’s and teen programming in Oklahoma City and Houston before she ascended to library administration. Prior to joining KCLS, Daniel led the Enoch Pratt Free Library for over six years, where she championed accessibility by eliminating fines, making it one of the first public library systems on the East Coast to do so. Under her leadership, the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore was celebrated as one of the “Nicest Places in America” by Good Morning America and Reader’s Digest. Daniel has received numerous accolades, including the Maryland Most Admired CEOs award in 2023 and Ohio Librarian of the Year in 2015.  

At KCLS, Daniel aims to build upon its strong foundation with innovative and inclusive strategies, reflecting her dedication to making libraries vital community resources accessible to all.  
 

Lauri Ellis is a Principal Service Engineering Manager in the OneDrive SharePoint team within Microsoft’s Office 365 organization, where she leads a team that handles change management and change governance for SharePoint Online. She has been working on the SharePoint product for over a decade both in internal and external-facing roles across various feature areas including search, upgrade, and service continuity management.

During her 20-year career at Microsoft, Ellis has worked in a variety roles including 10 years in the Microsoft Library, where she managed the library’s website and led redesigns of the corporate portal MSWeb. Other roles included managing the company’s external news program and overseeing the company’s intranet search services. Prior to Microsoft, she held an internship at the King County Technical Library and was a volunteer at the Kitsap Regional Library.

Ellis received both her Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Librarianship from the University of Washington. She has her Project Management Professional and ITIL certifications and is a member of the Special Libraries Association.

Tom Fay is Executive Director and Chief Librarian of The Seattle Public Library. A native of southern Nevada, Fay’s 42-year career in libraries began in 1983 as a page, and he later held roles as Executive Director of Henderson Libraries and the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Clark County Library District in Nevada.  

Fay joined The Seattle Public Library in 2015 as Director of Programs and Services, where he oversaw Public Services and Programs, Collections, Materials Handling, and Information Technology departments at Seattle’s downtown Central Library and all 26 neighborhood branches. In 2021, Fay was appointed to serve as Interim Chief Librarian, and in March 2022, the Library Board voted unanimously to select Fay as the new Executive Director and Chief Librarian. 

Fay graduated with a Fine Arts degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Master's in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He has been awarded the O’Callaghan Public Sector Person of the Year and selected as Nevada’s Librarian of the Year. He enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter experiencing the great outdoors in the Pacific Northwest.

Sara Jones joined the Washington State Library in 2021 after serving as the director of the Marin County Free Library since July 2013. Prior to her time in California, she held positions in Nevada libraries for 25 years, including serving as the Carson City Library Director, the Elko-Lander-Eureka County Library System Director and Youth Services Coordinator, and Nevada State Librarian and Administrator of the State Library and Archives from 2000-2007.

She was named the Nevada Library Association’s Librarian of the Year in 2012; served as Nevada’s American Library Association (ALA) Council Delegate for four years; coordinated ALA National Library Legislative Day for Nevada for 12 years; served as the Nevada Library Association president; was an active member of the Western Council of State Libraries serving as both vice president and president; and served on the University of North Texas Department of Library and Information Sciences Board of Advisors for more than 10 years. She was awarded the ALA Sullivan award for services to children in 2018. She is currently the president of CALIFA, a nonprofit library membership consortium.

Jones has an MLS from Syracuse University, and has taught in the San Jose State University and University of North Texas LIS programs.

Kim Mats mats is a UX Design Director in Kaiser Permanente’s IT organization, where she leads a team of product designers charged with improving the digital experience for health plan comparisons, enrollment, new member onboarding, and navigation.

Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Mats Mats led UX research, design and content strategy teams in consulting services at Avanade, Infosys, and Smith (formerly Ascentium). Over her 20-year career, she has used human-centered design methods to create engaging and useful websites, mobile apps, and digital tools at organizations including Microsoft, King County Library System, Puget Sound Energy, Kellogg’s, and ServiceNow, among others. Prior to her career in design, information architecture, and taxonomy, she held an internship at King County’s Technical Document and Research Center, and did fieldwork at the Microsoft Studios video archive.

Mats Mats received both her Bachelor of Arts in English and her Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Washington (MLIS, 2003). She teaches UX topics at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle and is a co-author of O’Reilly’s forthcoming book, “UX Skills for Business Strategy,” scheduled for publication in 2026.

Jill McKinstry retired as Director of the Odegaard Undergraduate Library and Special Assistant to the Dean of University Libraries for Undergraduate Education and Programs at the University of Washington. McKinstry is a graduate of the University of Washington Information School and has been a librarian at the UW for the past 23 years.

McKinstry is a passionate advocate for libraries and partnerships. Working closely with the UW Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, she co-founded the lecture series "Research Exposed" to introduce students to the research efforts of faculty on campus in a variety of disciplines. In 2003, McKinstry created the UW Library Research Award for Undergraduates to celebrate and reward students' research and creative activities. She is the past co-chair of the selection committee for the UW Common Book and also a member of the Board of Trustees for University Book Store. She received the University of Washington David B. Thorud Leadership Award in 2009.

McKinstry and her husband established the McKinstry Libraries Fellowship in 2001, an endowment that provides financial assistance to graduate students from underrepresented populations to pursue an MLIS degree.

Marisa Quinn joined Amazon in April 2019 as the manager of taxonomy and browse. Prior to this role, she directed the corporate library group within BlackRock Alternative Advisors, the firm's fund of funds platform. Quinn provided research assistance and information organization expertise across the platform.

Quinn joined BlackRock in 2007 following the acquisition of the fund of funds business of Quellos Group, LLC. At Quellos, she was an associate director and head of the corporate library, providing research assistance, collaborating with portfolio managers and analysts on manager identification, and providing information management expertise to all departments within the company. From 1998 to 2001, Quinn managed the McKenna Group's Technology Research Center, providing in-depth market research on high-tech, telecom and internet markets. From 1996 to 1998, she was a research associate with the Stanford University Computer Industry Project, which was funded by the Sloan Foundation.

Quinn earned a BA with a concentration in mathematics and a BA with a concentration in history from the Dominican University of California in 1996 and an MLIS degree from San Jose State University in 1998.

Marcie Stone is a Seattle native, a two-time graduate of the University of Washington with a B.A. in English Literature and a Master of Library Science, and is an avid advocate for both the iSchool and the whole UW. She had a 30-year career as a librarian and information professional with the federal government in the Washington, D.C. area and moved back to Seattle when she and her husband retired.

Among her many assignments with the government, her favorites were the small Army community libraries where she started her career and the 10 years that she managed an organization that participated in developing and implementing the leading-edge technologies that resulted in fielding the first generation of public government web sites in the mid-90’s.  

Since her retirement, Stone has found volunteer opportunities with many UW organizations. In addition to the iSchool’s MLIS Advisory Board and her position as co-chair of the iSchool’s campaign, she has recently completed a 4-year term on the UW Alumni Association Board of Trustees; is the continuing co-chair of the Association’s Legislative Advocacy Committee; works with the Meany Center for the Performing Arts in many capacities; serves as an active supporter of the UW Dream Project; and has recently renewed her connection with the Honors Program.

She and her husband are members of the Suzzallo Society and of the President’s Club, and wear purple whenever it’s appropriate! 

Alex Wade works for Digital Science, on scholarly data products such as Dimensions and Altmetric. Previously, Wade has worked at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Amazon and Microsoft Research. Wade has also held Systems Librarian, Engineering Librarian, Philosophy Librarian, and other library roles at the University of Washington, the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley.