As NDIA expands, we’re thrilled to welcome three new team members to start 2022. Please connect with them on LinkedIn and welcome them to the community.
Pamela Rosales
Training & Community Engagement Manager
She/Her/Hers
Chicago
For the previous five years, Pamela worked for nonprofits focusing on ending gender-based violence. She managed multilingual advocacy programs, 24-hour crisis hotlines, and provided community prevention trainings on domestic and sexual violence while serving the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Through trainings, she educated advocates on AAPI history and activism. In her work with KAN-WIN’s “Comfort Women” Advocacy, she led the Global Action Day march in downtown Chicago to the Consulate-General of Japan in August 2021. Pamela graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor’s in political science and a minor in sociology. When she’s not working, she’s either journaling, playing with her cat Ube, or exploring the windy city with her husband.
Aaron Schill
Director of Strategic Initiatives
He/Him/His
Portland, OR
Aaron is experienced at working with local leaders and elected officials to build consensus and develop place-based solutions to the most pressing community challenges. Throughout his career, Aaron has advocated for data and information access to empower communities to affect positive change. Prior to joining NDIA, Aaron was the director of data and mapping at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, where he headed the agency’s work in data analytics, visualization, and GIS. He also established the organization’s strategy and programming for broadband and digital inclusion and co-led the creation of the Franklin County Digital Equity Coalition. Aaron’s career experience includes working as an urban planner and research director primarily in public and nonprofit organizations. He is a two-time graduate of The Ohio State University, with a master’s degree in city and regional planning and a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Lo Smith
Senior Programs Manager
They/Them/Theirs
Baltimore
Lo’s work in libraries in the greater Baltimore area led them to the field of digital equity, as they experienced the impacts of the digital divide in their own community. Prior to joining NDIA, they served as the coordinator of digital equity at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, where they also served as a technology exchange fellow in 2018. During their time with the Pratt library, Lo piloted a variety of outreach and community-based digital inclusion programming, as well as examining the ways unexpected barriers impacted digital access and literacy. Lo graduated from Simmons University with a master’s of library science in 2019. Offline, they can be found strengthening their fearlessness, teamwork, and communication skills in the partner acrobatics and circus community.