Board of Directors
The Organization for Transformative Works is run for fans by fans. The directors of OTW's board are all active in fandom, as are the hundreds of other people serving on committees and working as volunteers.
Board of Directors (2013)
Kristen Murphy (President) Kristen Murphy is on the staff of the Individualized Major Program at Indiana University and is pursuing a master’s degree in higher education and student affairs. She co-organized the first U.S. conference on individualized major programs, which has become an annual event. She has worked on a professional Web development team and as a writer and editor for print and online media. Murphy joined online fandom in 1996, beginning with Quantum Leap and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and branching out to numerous science fiction and fantasy fandoms. She is an avid writer, beta reader, and podficcer.
Ira Gladkova (Secretary) Ira Gladkova is a Web designer and developer who focuses on user interfaces, usability, accessibility, and Web standards. A lifelong fan and media omnivore, zie has particular interest in fan projects that bring together diverse communities and media. A community moderator and staff of two fandom newsletters, hir work in an annual multi-fandom exchange involves co-moderation, the design and front-end coding of signup forms, and crafting guidelines that use inclusive language and welcome diversity across media, kinks, and gender preferences. Gladkova has created stories, art, comics, and graphics in over fifty fandoms, is an active reccer and beta reader, and hopes to finish hir first vids soon. Zie has an unfortunate propensity for falling in love with background characters.
Nikisha Sanders (Treasurer) Nikisha Sanders holds a BA in sociology and anthropology from Earlham College, where she authored a senior thesis on gender representation among queer women. She has worked as an activist for AIDS awareness and education, lobbied for LGBT rights at the local and state level as staff for the Fairness Campaign, and served as member of the board of the Kentucky coalition of Jobs with Justice. She brings experience in non-profit management and accounting to the board, and has a personal interest in outreach to fannish communities of color. She is relatively new to online fandom, joining in 2000 as an avid reader of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfic; and has been writing in various television and film fandoms, including NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Harry Potter, since 2006.
Eylul Dogruel (Elections Officer) Eylul Dogruel is an artist and an MFA candidate at Marmara University, Istanbul. She has an eclectic background combining computer sciences and art. Her knowledge and interests cover a range of topics including new media, sci-fi, customer support, web technologies, and usability. Eylul is a lifelong fan and has moved through various media and gaming fandoms. She is a fanfic reader, fanart appreciator, an MMO roleplayer and, occasionally, a meta writer. Her current fandoms include Warcraft, Doctor Who and The Longest Journey/Dreamfall.
Maia Bobrowicz Maia is a business analyst and project manager with the software development branch of an international company and has trouble staying away from school. She has a BSc in Chemistry, Metallurgy and Philosophy, a Bachelor of Journalism and is completing a MBA at night. Maia got involved in online fandom in 2001 and slid slowly from reading, to organising, to volunteering. A volunteer with the OTW since 2008, Maia has chaired AD&T and helped launch the Archive of Our Own into open beta. As part of a philosophy of giving back to the community Maia was on the Swancon (an annual Western Australia science fiction convention) committee for 2009 as program coordinator. Maia championed a women and family friendly program and managed to get 49% female panelists and presenters. Maia co-runs an annual discussion panel called Safe Spaces dedicated to exploring ways to make conventions enjoyable and safe(r) for all attendees.
Franzeska Dickson Franzeska Dickson does back office work in finance. Always a geek, she was introduced to fanfiction by alt.tv.x-files at the tender age of 13 and has been in fanworks fandom ever since, first as a reader, then a writer and beta, and now a vidder. Her favorite venues and events are pan-fandom ones, including her own rare Asian fandoms exchange. She has previously served on the Content, Abuse, Webmasters, and Tag Wrangling Committees as well as filling various other volunteering positions within OTW.
Andrea Horbinski Andrea Horbinski is a Ph.D. student in modern Japanese history at the University of California, Berkeley. She was previously a Fulbright Fellow to Japan, studying hypernationalist manga in Kyoto, and was a founding member of the OTW's Internationalization & Outreach committee. She joined online fandom in 1999 after writing her middle school graduation speech on her love of Star Wars, and soon became involved in anime and manga fandom as an AMV editor and later a fan translator. She has discussed fandom, anime, manga, and Japanese history and folklore at conventions and conferences including Otakon, Sirens, WisCon, AnimeExpo, and the Popular Culture Association, and currently writes for the Symposium blog of the Transformative Works and Cultures journal. Her articles and reviews have appeared in The WisCon Chronicles vol. 6, Mechademia, and Transformative Works and Cultures, and she continues to actively produce fan translations, fanfic, and vids.
Cat Meier Cat Meier studied International Relations at American University and has since worked in a variety of completely unrelated fields including financial administration, marketing and political canvassing. She is currently co-chair of the OTW Finance Committee, which she has served on since its inception. A science fiction and fantasy reader all her life, she has been a member of online fandom since 1999 as a reader, reccer, beta reader and meta writer in fandoms ranging from historical movies to superhero comics. From 2005-2011 she served as one of the compilers of the popular fannish newsletter Metafandom.
Emerita Board Members
2013
- Julia Beck
2012
- Francesca Coppa, PhD
- Naomi Novik
- Jenny Scott-Thompson
2011
- Rachel Barenblat
- Hele Braunstein
- Sheila Lane
- Allison Morris
2010
- Naomi Novik
- Rebecca Tushnet, JD
- Elizabeth Yalkut
2009
- KellyAnn Bessa
- Susan Gibel, JD
2008
- Cathy Cupitt, DCA
- Michele Tepper, PhD