WELCOME TO THE 2026 RILA CONFERENCE!

Wednesday, May 20

Liz Gotauco

Liz Gotauco (she/her) is a librarian to children and a storyteller and author for adults.

She's the Children's Services Coordinator at the Cumberland Public Library in RI. Her debut book F*cked Up Fairy Tales: Sinful Cinderellas, Prince Alarmings, and Other Timeless Classics, published by W. W. Norton & Co., is a reclamation of fairy tales as bibliotherapy for adults, inspired by her viral Tiktok series of the same name.

Raised by one of the last remaining scrimshanders and a beekeeper with an aggressive bee allergy, she believes in relentlessly pursuing art and happiness regardless of obstacles in one's way. She is also an award-winning cosplayer, an accomplished vocalist, and most importantly, a cat person who loves dogs.

Thursday, May 21

Nathan Sanders

Nathan E. Sanders is a data scientist, a physical scientist, a civic technologist, and an organizer in science communication. He is the co-author of the book “Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship” written with Bruce Schneier. Nathan has been writing about science and technology since 2005 and his work has appeared in outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Wired, Foreign Policy, and Time.

As a researcher, Nathan is currently an Affiliate of the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University. In application, he has built and led data science, ML, and AI teams across three industries: media and entertainment, biotech, and higher education.

Nathan earned his undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University and his MS and Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics at Harvard University.

High resolution profile photo. Image credit: Shannon Morey.