New at Dryad: Donna Okubo joins the team

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We are so pleased to announce that open access veteran and renowned alliance-builder Donna Okubo has joined Dryad as Strategic Partnership Director and will lead our efforts to expand the Dryad membership among academic and research institutions and funders in the United States.

Donna has an exceptional record working in support of open research, reaching back to 2004 when she joined the Public Library of Science (PLOS). At PLOS, Donna built strategic partnerships and directed a 150-member institutional membership program. And, she led a 30-organization coalition to support the California Taxpayer Access to Publicly Funded Research Act (AB609)–the first state public access bill in the U.S. 

Donna is known for having guided the convening of an international group of funders and other stakeholders that resulted in the formation of the Open Research Funders Group (ORFG), and for co-founding Open Access Week – the global event now in its 15th year. Donna currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the Knowledge Equity Lab at the University of Toronto.

In joining Dryad, Donna says: “This is an exciting time for research data management, data publishing and the open infrastructure community. We all have an opportunity to contribute to the shape of open research – including the economic structures – and advance an open and inclusive infrastructure for long-term preservation, dissemination and reuse.”

Dryad’s Head of Partnership Development Maria Guerreiro adds: “Donna’s wealth of experience and trust in the community have already been a big benefit to our efforts to grow and support the Dryad community. We’re fortunate to have her.”

To welcome Donna or learn more about her work, feel free to contact her via donna [at] datadryad [dot] org.

To learn more about the Dryad membership program, visit https://datadryad.org/stash/join_us.

To learn more about the team, visit https://datadryad.org/stash/about#our-staff.

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