Meet our joint commitment steering committee

Committee chair

Dr Nicola Nugent (she/her) is Publishing Manger, Quality & Ethics at the Royal Society of Chemistry, where she is the strategic lead for quality and impact across journals and books. She has responsibility for the journals peer review strategy, as well as publishing ethics, and inclusion & diversity in publishing. Nicola has over 18 years’ experience in STM publishing in a variety of operational and strategic roles, with an editorial focus. She has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Bristol, UK.

Nicola Nugent

Publishing Manager, Quality and Ethics, Royal Society of Chemistry

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Committee co-chair

Dr Holly Falk-Krzesinski (she/her) is co-chair of Elsevier’s Gender Equity Taskforce and Vice President, Research Intelligence. She's actively involved in Elsevier's broader executive-level Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) efforts, advocating for greater gender diversity among STEMM leadership and promoting sex, gender & intersectionality-based analysis in research. She has been spearheading a collaborative effort that enables researchers to self-report their diversity data—gender, race and ethnicity—within editorial management systems in support of an evidentiary approach to accelerating diversity and inclusion in scholarly communication and the research ecosystem broadly.

Holly Falk-Krzesinksi

Vice President, Research Intelligence, Global Strategic Networks, Elsevier

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Committee secretary

Victoria (she/her) has worked in publishing for 15 years, across variety of functions including journal management, open access, product development, continuous improvement, and policy. In her day job she works as part of the External Affairs and Policy team to develop Taylor & Francis’s publishing and editorial policy, with particular interest in areas such as research integrity, open access, and diversity and inclusion. In addition to being on the Joint Commitment Steering Committee, Vicky is part of the HESI UN SDG Publisher Compact Fellows Group, on the Editorial Board for Insights and sits on publishing industry committees such as STM’s Open Research Committee, and the Publishers Association’s Public Affairs committee. Vicky describes herself as a life longer learner and a self starter, and enjoys working with others to develop new ideas and solve problems.

Vicky Gardner

Director of Policy, Taylor & Francis

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Committee member

Phil Hurst (he/him) is Publisher at the Royal Society. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the publishing industry with both commercial publishers and learned societies. At Current Science he was a Senior Editor on electronic products. Later at the Royal Society he successfully transitioned the journals and peer review online. He has launched both subscription and open access journals including Royal Society Open Science. He leads on open science, research integrity and diversity.

Phil Hurst

Publisher, Royal Society

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Committee member

Gordon MacPherson joined IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers) in 2007. As Director, Board Governance & Policy Development, he serves as lead staff support for IEEE’s Publication Services & Products Board. His previous service at IEEE included roles as Director, Conference Quality, and Senior Program Manager, eBooks & Conference Publications.

Prior to IEEE, Gordon held editorial or production roles with Thomson Reuters, Dow Jones & Co., Reed Elsevier, and the AICPA. He holds degrees from Fordham and Monmouth Universities.

Gordon MacPherson

Director, Board Governance & Policy Development, IEEE Publications

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Committee member

Cecilia (she/her) has worked in publishing since 2017 with a background in STM journals editorial. Having moved to Frontiers in 2021, she now develops and implements organisation-wide strategies to drive quality and impact at scale. As a visible queer leader, Cecilia is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and a champion of intersectionality. She has led an LGBTQIA+ Staff Network, chaired panel discussions and spoken at industry conferences. She is a member of Frontiers DEI committee mentor with the STM Association.  

Cecilia Marshall

Publishing Strategy Lead, Impact, Frontiers

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Committee member

Shan Mukhtar (she/her) is Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) - Research for Wiley, serving both Wiley's Research BU and its Global DEI Office. For the past ten years, her leadership in the academic and corporate sectors has focused on advancing strategies that embed DEI into talent recruitment, retention, and development, data analysis, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programs and policies. She earned her Masters and PhD in Race and Ethnic Studies at Emory University. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Shan Mukhtar

Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - Research, Wiley

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Committee member

Danielle (she/her) is a diversity and inclusion practitioner with nearly ten years’ experience in the publishing industry. Currently the Inclusion Lead at Emerald Publishing, Danielle has devoted her career to active listening and storytelling, which brings life to her work in inclusive recruitment, equality monitoring, employee training, and the retention and development of people with diverse backgrounds and abilities.

Danielle Ormshaw

Inclusion Lead, Emerald Publishing

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