Freedom Dreamers.

Invited Speaker. University of Ottawa Archives & Special Collections. In-Person. October 23, 2025.

Toward Community-Centered Reference.

Schlesinger Library, Harvard University. In-Person. November 8, 2024. 

Description and Access for Anti-Black Archival Materials.

Invited Speaker. ARMA International. Virtual. March 28, 2024.

Toward Community-Centered Reference.

Invited Speaker. Library and Archives Canada. Virtual. March 8, 2024.

Teaching Cafe: Democracy’s Archive, Archiving Democracy.

Invited Speaker with Myron Groover, Denali YoungWolfe, Krista McCracken, Michele Antoinette Johnson & Roberto Falanga. Participedia. In-Person. November 12, 2025.

Archives + Creative Possibilities.

Invited Speaker. Muslims in Canada Archives, Into The Archives Muslims Art Program.

Healing with Archives: A Conversation with Melissa J. Nelson.

Invited Speaker. Colloquium Series. University of British Columbia School of Information. In-Person. September 19, 2024.

Rethinking Archival Tools: Catalogs, Finding Aids and Descriptions.

Invited Speaker. Black Community Archives and Libraries Summer Seminar. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Virtual. June 14, 2024.

Keynote: Archives as Sites of Black Joy.

Melissa J. Nelson. Invited Speaker. Networks of the Black Atlantic: Heritage, Knowledge and Solidarity. Nigra Iuventa. In-Person. November 21, 2025.

Closing Keynote: Critical Hope in a Time of Uncertainty

Melissa J. Nelson. Invited Speaker. Archives Association of Ontario Annual Conference. Virtual. May 8, 2025.

Black Dreams & The Archives.

Melissa J. Nelson, Désirée Rochat, Elizabeth Shaffer, and Aaron T. Francis. Association of Canadian Archivists Annual Conference. Virtual. June 12, 2024.

Engagement and Teaching with Data. 

Melissa J. Nelson, Laura Estill, Meghan Landry, Gretchen Rudham, Victoria Moten, and Cortnie Belser. Invited Speaker. Library and Archives Canada. May 9, 2024.

Digital Archives and Ethics of Care. 

Melissa J. Nelson, Cait McKinney and Gracen Brilmyer. Invited Speaker. Crossing Fonds. OCAD University, Simon Fraser University & Centre for the Study of Black Canadian Diaspora. In-person. April 27, 2024.

Black Archives & Archival Research.

Invited Speaker. University of Toronto. INF2180H Archives, Access, Advocacy and Outreach. In-person. September 30, 2025. Instructor: Jessica Lapp.

Reparative Description: Confronting Anti-Blackness in Archives.

Invited Speaker. University of Toronto Faculty of Information. INF2104H Archives and Community. Virtual. November 20, 2024. Instructor: Jessica Lapp.

Reparative Description: Confronting Anti-Blackness in Archives.

Invited Speaker. University of Toronto Faculty of Information. INF1331H Archival Arrangement and Description. In-person. March 27, 2024. Instructor: Jennifer Grant.