Lauren Cooper (Akimel O’odham, Muscogee, she/her) is the Digital Scholarship Librarian and the Managing Director for the Center for Black Digital Research at The Pennsylvania State University. As the Center for Black Digital Research Librarian, she works with students, colleagues, and partners to research, develop, and implement digital scholarship and publishing projects. As Managing Director, she drives the implementation of the Center’s strategic goals, managing the delivery on Center partnerships and collaborations, participates in grant writing and management, and oversees that the organizational, financial, and technological infrastructures meet the immediate and long-term needs. Community building and engagement across and between different audiences is critical to the Center’s collective and collaborative framework for scholarly production. In collaboration with the Center directors, Lauren works to establish and maintain trust, understanding, and reciprocity with external institutional partners and community members associated with digital projects, ensuring the ethical curation and stewardship of digital projects, especially with communities historically excluded, silenced, or underrepresented in academia.