Jenni Skinner

Jenni Skinner is an African Specialist and Library Manager at the Centre of African Studies Library, part of the World Collections Department at the University of Cambridge. She supports undergraduate and postgraduate research and teaching in African Studies, with a focus on equity of access and community engagement.

• Co-Chair of Race Equality Network (former)
• Co-Chair of Faculty and Departmental Librarians Network (former)
• Member of Decolonising through Critical Librarianship group
• Advisor on Black Advisory Hub Steering Group
• Representative for Cambridge University Libraries Decolonisation Working Group

Her research interests span decolonizing academic libraries, archival digitization, and visual representation of global majority communities. She has co-authored a chapter in "Narrative Expansions: Interpreting Decolonisation in Academic Libraries" and collaborates on international digitization projects like the Mellon-funded "African Poetry Digital Portal" and the "Carnegie RCS Southern African Collections" initiative.

Jenni has received recognition through the Professional Services Recognition Scheme Awards 2022 in the Cross-University category. She actively partners with creative practitioners such as Sana Ginwalla, Kerstin Hacker, and Dr. Kenny Monrose, curating culturally significant projects like "An Exhibition That Nobody Will See" and a forthcoming audio-visual archive on British race relations.

Current projects include "Re-entangling the Visual Archive" (summer 2024) and the upcoming "Women in Perspective" photography exhibition in collaboration with Sudanese Collective & Network. She previously hosted exhibitions "Generation Z" and "Stories of Kalingalinga" with Dr. Kerstin Hacker from the Cambridge School of Arts.