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Founder of FireOak Strategies

Abby Clobridge

Abby Clobridge is the founder of FireOak Strategies, a boutique consulting firm specializing in helping organizations enhance their knowledge management and information security capabilities. 

More about Abby Clobridge

Abby has a unique background that includes over twenty years of professional experience at the intersection of knowledge management, information management, data/information governance, libraries, and technology. She has worked with a wide range of organizations, including United Nations agencies; colleges and universities; not-for-profit organizations; the news media; and private sector companies.

Before founding FireOak Strategies, Abby was the Associate Director of Research and Knowledge Services at Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government where she developed a knowledge management program and supported the school’s Open Access policy. From 2003-2009, Abby was the head of the digital initiatives program at Bucknell University (Pennsylvania) where she launched the university’s digital repository and supervised metadata initiatives. Earlier in her career, Abby worked as an investigative researcher and news librarian for CNN.

At FireOak Strategies, Abby oversees client engagements and serves as the lead consultant for many of our projects. She’s often traveling around the world to visit clients and speak at conferences.

Abby holds a B.A. (Cum Laude) in History from Tufts University and an M.S. in Library Science from Florida State University. She is a member of the Forbes Business Council, where several of her thought leadership articles for business leaders can be read, and several other professional organizations focused on cybersecurity, IT, and digital trust. 

In her spare time, Abby can be found putting together a puzzle, swapping war stories with other entrepreneurs, or hanging out with Twitch, her oversized Maine Coon cat, and Maisey the Dog.

Abby Clobridge, Founder of FireOak Strategies

Honors, Awards, & Certifications

FireOak Awards & Certifications

Under Abby’s leadership, FireOak Strategies was named the Knowledge Management Consulting Services Company of the Year by CIO Review (2019)

FireOak Strategies is a certified Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE). FireOak is certified annually by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the largest third-party certifier of businesses owned, controlled, and operated by women in the U.S.

Additional Awards

Over the course of her career, Abby Clobridge has been awarded two prestigious awards. Along with her colleague, David Del Testa (Associate Professor, Department of History, Bucknell University), Abby won the 2009 ACRL Instruction Section Innovation Award for the development of the “paper and pixels” model of teaching as demonstrated in the World War II Poster Project. Two distinct pedagogical models were developed as a result of this project. Both models have been replicated at other colleges and universities.

While at CNN, Abby was part of the CNN Investigation Team which won First Place, National Headliner Awards (2002) for CNN’s continuing coverage on “Attack on America and Aftermath.”

Forbes Business Coucil

Abby is a member of the prestigious Forbes Business Council. In this capacity, Abby will have the opportunity to share her expert insights in original articles

Abby Clobridge is a member of the Forbes Business Council

Research, Writing, and Presentations

Abby Clobridge is the author of over fifty articles about knowledge management, information management, open access, and information security; two book chapters; and a book. She’s currently working on a new book about knowledge management. 

Books & Chapters

Abby’s first book, Building a Digital Repository with Limited Resources, was published in 2010. 

Other chapters by Abby Clobridge:

 

Trends, Discovery, and People in the Digital Age -- Edited by Wendy Evans and David Baker

Chapter 11: The Digital Toolkit in Trends, Discovery, and People in the Digital Age

Selected Articles

A few articles from The Open Road, Abby’s column in Online Searcher: 

Other selected articles:

Selected Presentations

Some presentations, panel discussions, and other events where Abby Clobridge has presented:

  • Good Practices throughout the Research Data Lifecycle,” a panel moderated by Abby Clobridge at the CGIAR Big Data in Agriculture Convention in Hyderabad, India
  • “Organizational Considerations for Data Transparency and Information Security,” a panel discussion with Kait Maloney (Catholic Relief Services) and Forrest Wilhoit (NetHope) at ICT4D Conference in Kampala, Uganda
  • “Data Horror Stories: 5 Stories from the Field,” a session at the CGIAR Big Data in Agriculture Convention in Nairobi
  • “Strategic Expansion of Analytics Capacity through Knowledge Management,” with Joe Kimura (Atrius Health) at the HIMSS Conference in Orlando
  • “Balancing Security and Sharing: Tips for Information & Knowledge Managers” at KMWorld in Washington, DC
  • “Diagnosing Taxonomy Challenges & Other Knowledge Management Tales from the Field,” Special Library Association Annual Meeting

Abby's Recent Blog Posts

A few of our favorite recent blog posts: