2021 Annual Meeting - VIRTUAL - MAHSLIN - NAHSL at North Atlantic Health Sciences Libraries, Inc. (NAHSL)

Speakers

Heather A. Wiggins is a native Wismaican (Wisconsin, Jamaica hybrid). She is currently a Supervisory Copyright Specialist at the United States Copyright Office located within the Library of Congress and an Adjunct Professor at The Catholic University of America where she teaches an intensive institute on Copyright Law and Licensing.

Ms. Wiggins received her BA degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she triple majored in Spanish, International Studies, and LACIS. She also received a Certificate in Global Cultures, and spent a semester abroad in Madrid, Spain. She received her law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and her Masters in Library and Information Science from the Catholic University of America. She is co-author of a chapter in the reference book, “Digital Rights Management and Copyright Law: What Librarians Need to Know.” She recently wrapped up her term as treasurer and executive board member of the DC Library Association, and she spent over four years working as an Executive Board member with the nonprofit, “the Story of Our Schools.”

She is the owner of “The Writer’s Edge, LLC,” and she enjoys mentoring, reading, writing, traveling, and finding ways to give back to her community. She is also a content creator for her blog Celestial Goodness and her YouTube Celestial Goodness 1111.

Trey Robertson currently works as a Supervisor in the Performing Arts division of the US Copyright Office leading a team of expert copyright examiners who analyze musical compositions, sound recordings, and screenplays for copyright registration eligibility. He’s actively involved in multiple office-wide projects including providing voiceovers for the office’s YouTube video series; serving as a subject matter expert for office-wide Organizational Change Management initiatives, and as a contributor for the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion working group.

He began his career at the Copyright Office in 2010 as an examiner in the Performing Arts division, and became active in office-wide training and outreach projects. Trey has represented the office as a copyright mentor for the JTB Summer Legal Institute (2015-2017 and 2019), and served as a copyright panel member at the 2018 American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) conference in New York. Most recently, he received the 2020 American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) award, which recognizes outstanding individuals from both the U.S. Copyright Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office who further the intellectual property systems of the United States.

Prior to his work at the Copyright Office, Trey worked as a Copyright/Business Affairs analyst at Sony Music Entertainment in New York City from 2005-2009. He received a Bachelor of Music Degree from Middle Tennessee State University, and earned a Master of Music degree in Music Business and Entertainment Industries from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

Christine Platt is a passionate advocate for social justice and policy reform. She holds a B.A. in Africana Studies from the University of South Florida, M.A. in African and African American Studies from The Ohio State University, and J.D. from Stetson University College of Law. A believer in the power of storytelling as a tool for social change, Christine’s literature centers on teaching race, equity, diversity and inclusion to people of all ages. She currently serves as the Managing Director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University.

Christine’s debut novel, The Truth About Awiti, won the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal for Multicultural Fiction and is currently used in high schools, colleges and universities to teach the history of the transatlantic slave trade and its lasting implications. In 2018, Christine decided to teach history to a new audience–children. She has since written over two dozen children’s books including the beloved Ana & Andrew series, which teaches young readers about African-American history and culture. She is also the author of several biographies for advanced readers and her first middle-grade work, Trailblazers: Martin Luther King Jr., was published by Penguin Random House in December 2020. Additionally, Christine recently signed with Candlewick Press/Walker Book on an original series entitled Frankie at Five which will introduce advanced/early middle-grade readers to the importance of journalism. Her next long anticipated adult work, The Afrominimalist’s Guide to Living with Less, will be published on June 15, 2021 by Simon & Schuster/Tiller Press.

Christine is a member of the Association of Black Women Historians, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and serves as an Ambassador for Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. She is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Christine regularly partners organizations on educational initiatives including Teaching for Change, Turning the Page, An Open Book Foundation, First Book, Eaton Workshop, PEN/Faulkner Foundation, and Writers and Artists Across the Country. Christine currently serves on the Board of Directors for Lee Montessori Public Charter School in Washington, DC.