PROGRAM
- WELCOME
- PRESENTATION OF THE ADVOCACY IN ACTION AWARD TO CYNTHIA TANCER
- PROGRAM INTRODUCTION
- PANEL PRESENTATION
- Q&A
SPEAKER BIOS
Wendy Bartlett began her library career in 2000 at the Kent Free Library in Kent, Ohio, attending Kent State School of Information Science to earn her MLIS at the same time. In 2006, she joined Cuyahoga County Public Library as the manager for the Beachwood branch. In 2009, she became the Collection Development & Acquisitions Manager, centralizing selection for the system and launching a floating collection, a position she has held since.
Previous to joining libraries, Wendy was the Regional Manager for Borders Books & Music’s Cleveland and Pittsburgh stores.
Wendy has several publications to her credit, including Floating Collections: A Collection Development Model for Long-Term Success (2014) and Curating Community Collections: A Holistic Approach to Diverse Collection Development with co-author Mary Schreiber, (March, 2024).
Scott DiMauro, a high school social studies teacher from Worthington, was elected President of the OEA in 2019 after having served as vice president for six years. Over his 33-year career as an educator, Scott has worked to provide students the critical thinking and decision-making skills they need to be successful citizens in our democracy while advocating for students, educators, and strong public schools at all levels of his union.
Scott’s priorities as president have included strengthening local affiliates, enhancing professional supports for members, and elevating the voice of educators in public policy to ensure all students are given access to a high-quality education that inspires their creativity, imagination, and desire to learn. As OEA President, he helped lead a successful coalition effort that resulted in the historic passage of the Fair School Funding Plan along with an increase in the state minimum teacher’s salary as part of the most recent state budget bill.
Scott has facilitated OEA’s Board and leadership team in educating and organizing members to advocate for social, racial, and economic justice. That priority has framed OEA’s advocacy on school safety, resistance to attacks on educators’ freedom to teach and students’ freedom to learn an honest education, and a comprehensive strategy to attract and retain caring, qualified educators—both licensed and support professionals–in every community across Ohio.
As vice president, Scott was proud to guide the OEA Commission on Student Success to lay out a comprehensive vision for high-quality education for all students and lay the groundwork for positive implementation of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act in Ohio. He also led an initiative to increase student access to breakfast in high-poverty districts and served as national spokesperson for the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom. At the national level, he served as the 2023-2024 president of the National Council of State Education Associations.
Steve Potash is President and Chief Executive Officer of OverDrive, a company he founded in 1986. He also serves on its Board of Directors. Under his leadership, OverDrive has become the leading digital reading platform for eBooks, audiobooks, and other digital media for over 92,000 libraries, schools, government agencies, corporate learning centers, colleges, and universities worldwide. He has pioneered many innovations for digital content use and applications. OverDrive has long-standing partnerships with thousands of publishers, authors, and media companies across the industry. As a mission-based company, OverDrive became a Certified B Corp in 2017 dedicated to “A World Enlightened by Reading.”
The Steve & Loree Potash Family Foundation funds literacy programs through BelieveinReading.org. In 2021, Steve and his wife Loree gifted $7.5 million to establish the Steve and Loree Potash Women & Newborn Center at the University Hospital Ahuja Medical Center. In addition to the named center, Steve and Loree’s gift launched an innovative literacy program called Baby’s First Books, ensuring families go home with their first collection of baby books to be read to the newborn.
Prior to starting OverDrive, and while practicing law, Steve served as Special Counsel to the Ohio Attorney General, served as an acting Municipal Judge, and authored technology columns for the American Bar Association Journal. He was admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court in 2019.
Steve has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The Ohio State University and earned his J.D. at Cleveland State University College of Law.
