It is time to cast your vote in the 2026 ASI Board of Directors election.
ASI is pleased to announce this year’s slate of candidates for positions on the Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee had several goals when working to put together the slate of candidates, all of which focus on securing a strong future for ASI. These goals include the development of a strong Board of Directors that will function well as a whole while also representing the diversity of ASI members and their views; broadening the number of people who are included in ASI leadership at all levels; and ensuring that ASI will continue to have active members with board experience who are willing to take on future leadership roles at the highest levels. We believe the candidates presented here will help achieve all of these goals, and that they will work diligently to further the mission of ASI.
The following candidates have agreed to serve and, if elected, will take office at the ASI Annual Meeting on May 15, 2026.
Biographies and vision statements appear below. Click on the individual names for more information.
President Elect
Secretary
Director at Large (Two positions are open in 2026)
————> Click here to complete your ballot. <————
DEADLINE FOR VOTING IS 5 PM PACIFIC TIME, April 10, 2026.
Candidate Biographies and Vision Statements
Judy Staigmiller (Candidate for President Elect)
Biography
Judy Staigmiller earned a bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages and completed non-degree post-graduate work in English literature. She worked for over 30 years as a paraprofessional in an academic library. She began indexing as a part-time retirement career in 2015 after completing the ASI course. She has held a variety of volunteer positions in both ASI and the PNW chapter of ASI.
In her non-indexing life, Judy volunteers for the adaptive horsemanship program at Eagle Mount, a therapeutic recreation center. She lives in Bozeman, Montana, near good friends who thought she was crazy when she mentioned an interest in indexing, and her son.
Vision Statement
ASI provides support for indexers through marketing, education, and formal and informal networking. I find it hard to imagine being where I am now without this support. I plan to help ASI continue all aspects of this work, hopefully with a calm, steady, and objective presence.
Vickie Jacobs (Candidate for Secretary)
Biography
Vickie Jacobs started indexing books part-time in December 2012 and started working full-time as a database indexer in April 2013. She joined ASI in 2016, in a moment of need during a particularly challenging book indexing project, to seek the advice and wisdom of other professional indexers, and started the ASI Training Course in the same year. After a two-year stint focusing on library work full time, she returned to book indexing and started her business, VFJ Indexing & Word Services, in 2021. She has since become active in ASI as the head of the History/Archaeology SIG and the Southeast Chapter, and has been an enthusiastic attendee of multiple online learning and webinar courses. She lives in Central Florida and balances her indexing time with trying to keep her plants alive, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and trips to the beach.
Vision Statement
I joined ASI out of a need to learn more about the profession, good indexing practice, and other technical knowledge—it was a need that was more than fulfilled by the professionals found in ASI. I would like to support ASI and all its members by serving as Secretary of the Board.
Heather Dubnick (Candidate for Director—three-year term)
Biography
Heather has been indexing since 2003 and is the owner of Heather Dubnick Publishing, Research, and Editorial Services. She discovered indexing when she enrolled in a course called Subject Analysis while getting her master’s degree in library science. Heather also has a master’s degree in the humanities and a doctorate in Spanish literature. She has taught writing and Spanish at the college level, and she is an instructor for University of California at Berkeley Extension School, where she teaches courses in indexing and writing. Heather also serves as publications coordinator for ASI, and in the past she has served as president and vice president for the New England chapter of ASI.
Heather and her boyfriend live in Beverly, Massachusetts, not far from Heather’ s parents (including Randa, also an indexer), and have a dog named Chelsea. In her spare time, Heather enjoys cooking, gardening, and making art.
Vision Statement
I want to support indexers as a community and help indexers to advocate for themselves. Having participated in the editing community as well, I have noticed areas where indexers could learn from their editing colleagues to improve their compensation and working conditions. Technically inclined non-indexers have been warning me for twenty-some years now that indexing is soon to be obsolete, and those voices seem to be growing louder, so I also want to continue to prove them wrong and encourage indexers to adopt a nimble, creative approach to navigating new technologies and market changes.
Jessica Siddiqi (Candidate for Director—three-year term)
Biography
Jessica Siddiqi discovered freelance indexing in 2023 while working as a part-time kindergarten teacher. She has since transitioned toward working solely as a book indexer, primarily indexing books on education, religion, and the humanities and social sciences. Jessica has bachelor’s degrees in history and elementary education, as well as a master’s degree in elementary education, from the University of Florida. She currently serves on ASI’s Membership Committee and Training Course Committee and is an instructor for ASI’s new training course. She previously participated in a group effort to index the 2017–2023 volumes of Key Words.
Jessica lives in Forest, Virginia with her husband Mustafa. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and singing in a church choir and a community chorus.
Vision Statement
My goal is to provide helpful insight to ASI’s board, particularly as it pertains to new members and new indexers. I have recent experience starting an indexing business, and because of my work on ASI’s Membership Committee and the new training course, I am familiar with the interests and concerns of new members and new indexers generally. As an increasing number of indexers are transitioning toward retirement, it is important that ASI continues to attract and support new members.