A Spotlight on New Communications Committee Volunteers
The Communications Committee plays a vital role in The ArQuives. They assist with creating the link between The ArQuives and the communities that we serve by raising our profile in the community. Volunteers in this committee manage and produce The ArQuives’s website feeds, social media platforms, and newsletters. They help deliver and promote a variety of information, extending from our collections to past and upcoming events. Volunteers come with valuable experience and skills in writing, editing, graphic design, organization, and planning. Many volunteers are trained experts in their field, and we are honoured to have their support in our work. Here are a few of the new Communications Committee volunteers who recently joined our team:
Miguel Martin-Garcia (Communications Committee):
Honorable. Intelligent. Creative. Admirable. That person wasn’t available, so the Arquives got stuck with Miguel.
Miguel Martin-Garcia brings a lifetime of writing and communications experience to the Arquives. He has worked with both media and financial institutions, having edited stories ranging from Flight 93 on September 11 to the credit rating downgrade of Ontario. He earned his MBA from Western University in 2017.
“I volunteer at The ArQuives because documenting our history is vital to creating a better future.”
Rebecca Reisler (Communications Committee):
Rebecca is a graduate student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and is studying public policy and information systems. She is the recipient of the Seneca research fellowship, and will be completing her fellowship externally at The ArQuives. When she is not doing school work, Rebecca is researching houseplants and walking very slowly with her geriatric dog, Neil. She is completing her fellowship at The ArQuives because it is an important part of queer Canada, that is ready and excited for change.
“2019 is going to be a big year for The ArQuives and the many volunteers and staff that have worked very hard, for many years, to grow and preserve it. I am very excited to be a part of The Arquives launch team, and look forward to connecting with communities and groups whose work has historically been underrepresented and silenced.”
Lo Humeniuk (Communications Committee):
Lo began volunteering with both The ArQuives and the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival very soon after she moved to Toronto as a means of learning about the queer history and culture of Toronto, and also because being a part of the queer community and contributing where she can is important to her. She aspires to one day work in libraries or archives. She began writing book reviews of some of the works in the archives because she thinks the collection is amazing, and because she is very excited about the work that is being done in the realm of queer literature right now.
“Learning about our past and preserving it is such an important thing. I want young people to be able to look back at the progress that has been made so far, to be able to examine relics and artifacts from that past, to be able to learn about amazing people who have been a part of our community and be inspired.”