Ellen Oh is co-founder, President, and CEO of We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in children’s literature. She is also a former adjunct college instructor and corporate/entertainment attorney. She is the author of the YA fantasy trilogy The Prophecy Series and the MG novel Spirit Hunters: Book 1. Spirit Hunters: Book 2 will be published in Summer 2018.

Dhonielle Clayton is COO of We Need Diverse Books. She is the co-author of the Tiny Pretty Things series and The Belles series. She grew up in the Washington, DC suburbs on the Maryland side and spent most of her time under her grandmother’s table with a stack of books. A former teacher and middle school librarian, Dhonielle is co-founder of CAKE Literary, a creative development company whipping up decidedly diverse books for a wide array of readers. She’s got a serious travel bug and loves spending time outside of the USA, but makes her home in New York City, where she can most likely be found hunting for the best slice of pizza.

Judy Schricker has over twenty years of experience in corporate finance and accounting. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in Business Economics. She worked in Silicon Valley for over ten years and gained invaluable experience under amazing mentors on teams that took two start-up companies public. She later started her consulting business setting up finance operations for businesses and nonprofits.

Judy immigrated to the United States with her parents and sister when the girls were preschool and elementary school age. They are first-generation Taiwanese-Americans. Growing up in New Jersey, right outside NYC, Judy loved the melting pot atmosphere the city offered and was a die-hard New York Yankees fan. Dad would drive his blue Buick station wagon with family in tow to the games in the Bronx. She resides in sunny Reno, Nevada with her husband and two teen boys. In her free time when she is not walking/training their new addition to the family, Bella, a playful Shih Tzu, she volunteers on school and athletic committees. She is honored to be a part of WNDB for her kids and all kids.

Zoraida Córdova is the author of many fantasy novels for kids and teens, including the award-winning Brooklyn Brujas series, Incendiary, The Way to Rio Luna, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: A Crash of Fate. Her short fiction has appeared in the New York Times bestselling anthology Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, A Universe of Wishes, Come On In, and Toil & Trouble. She is the co-editor of the bestselling anthology Vampires Never Get Old. Her debut adult novel is The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina. She is the co-host of the podcast Deadline City with Dhonielle Clayton. Zoraida was born in Ecuador and raised in Queens, New York. When she isn’t working on her next novel, she’s planning a new adventure.

Minh Lê is the award-winning picture book author of Lift (a Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2020), Drawn Together (winner of the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature), The Perfect Seat, and Let Me Finish. He is also the author of Green Lantern: Legacy, his debut middle grade graphic novel for DC Comics and appears in the anthology, The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth. In addition to writing books, Minh is a federal early childhood policy analyst who has worked at the local, state, and national level to help children and families access safe and high-quality early education. He received his bachelor’s in Psychology from Dartmouth College, a master’s in Education Policy from Harvard University, and has been published by the Huffington Post, NPR, and the New York Times.

Outside of spending time with his wonderful wife and kids in the home in San Diego, his favorite place to be is in the middle of a good book.

Cornelius Minor is a Brooklyn-based educator and part-time Pokemon trainer. He works with teachers, school leaders, and leaders of community-based organizations to support equitable literacy reform in cities (and sometimes villages) across the globe. His latest book, We Got This, explores how the work of creating more equitable school spaces is embedded in our everyday choices — specifically in the choice to really listen to kids.

Cornelius has been featured in Education Week, Brooklyn Magazine, and Teaching Tolerance Magazine. He has partnered with The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, The New York City Department of Education, The International Literacy Association, Scholastic, and Lesley University’s Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative. Out of Print, a documentary featuring Cornelius, made its way around the film festival circuit, and he has been a featured speaker at conferences all over the world. He is a dedicated Hip hop fan, and on some evenings, you can find him online saving the universe with his PlayStation or on paper saving the realm in Dungeons & Dragons.

Most recently, along with his partner and wife, Kass Minor, he has established The Minor Collective, a community-based movement designed to foster sustainable change in schools. Whether working with educators and kids in Los Angeles, Seattle, or New York City, Cornelius uses his love for technology, literature, and social media to bring communities together. As a teacher, Cornelius draws not only on his years teaching middle school in the Bronx and Brooklyn, but also on time spent skateboarding, shooting hoops, and working with young people.

These days, Cornelius is learning how to bake from his two young children, searching for an elusive pair of Jordan IVs, and is ritually re-reading all of the 1990’s era comic books that he can find.

Kaitlyn Sage Patterson grew up with her nose in a book outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After a 10 year stint in West Tennessee, she’s once more happily living at the feet of the mountains that raised her. Her debut novel, THE DIMINISHED, was published by HarlequinTEEN in 2018. Its sequel, THE EXALTED followed in 2019.

When she’s not staring off into space and trying to untangle some particularly troublesome plot point, she can be found in her kitchen, practicing the most difficult recipes she can find; or at the barn, where she rides and trains dressage horses; or with her husband, spoiling their sweet rescue critters.

Caroline Richmond joined the WNDB staff in 2017 as a Program Manager before moving into the Program Director role where she helped oversee the nonprofit’s groundbreaking initiatives. In early 2021, she was named Interim Executive Director and she eagerly looks forward to launching new programming, donating more diverse books, and growing the organization even further.

Caroline is also an award-winning author and she lives in Maryland with her family.

Elissa Petruzzi is a lifelong book lover and journalist who has been published in USA Weekend, the Baltimore Sun, In Touch Weekly, DCist, and more. During her stint as longtime editor of Romantic Times magazine, she interviewed bestselling authors like Suzanne Collins, Beverly Jenkins, and Francine Pascal. Elissa has also written numerous nonfiction titles on topics like state history, job skills, and stem cells. As Program Manager at WNDB, Elissa handles the Creative Writing Awards and other projects.

JoAnn Yao is the Social Media Manager for We Need Diverse Books. She holds a B.S. in Computational Media from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.A. in TV, Radio, & Film from Syracuse University. Among other things, she has conducted research for the American Film Institute, provided book and script coverage for a Hollywood agency, designed an online narrative game, and written a comic for a New Frontiers anthology. She lives in New York City with her dragon’s hoard of books.

Alaina Lavoie is the communications manager of We Need Diverse Books and a reviewer for Booklist. She has worked with WNDB since 2015, beginning as a volunteer and joining the staff in 2019. She also teaches in the MFA program at Emerson College. In 2017, she was awarded a Bookbuilders of Boston scholarship for her dedication to amplifying marginalized voices and advocating for an equitable publishing and media industry. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, The Boston Globe Magazine, Refinery29, The Oprah Magazine, Bitch, Glamour, The Chicago Tribune, and more, under the byline Alaina Leary. Alaina lives in Boston with her wife, their three literary cats, and a rainbow bookshelf. She is almost always covered in glitter.

Breanna J. McDaniel is the author of the picture book Hands Up!, a book reviewer, education consultant, and researcher. She holds an MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons University and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Education at the University of Cambridge with research focused on representations of black children in contemporary picture books. She’s the co-founder of Researchers Exploring Inclusive Youth Literature (REIYL) and though she’s originally from Atlanta, GA, she now splits her time between the United States and the United Kingdom.

Chelsea P. Villareal is a Children’s Media Strategist and Marketing Manager from Portland, Oregon. She holds a BUPA in Political Science & Media Studies from Portland State University and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Communication & Education at Columbia University, TC with a focus on civic imagination and Latinx representation. She works on the Brand Marketing team at Penguin Young Readers and lives in Brooklyn with her partner and two crazy, lazy feline beasts. As Program Manager at WNDB, Chelsea handles the Internship Grant Programs.

Linda Hom joins the WNDB team as the Human Resources Generalist. She comes to WNDB with over 15 years of experience working in the non profit sector. Prior to joining WNDB, Linda ran the human resources department of a large non profit housing developer. She has a B.A. in Business Administration from San Jose State University. While not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their two children, and their dog.

Chris became the Accounting Manager for WNDB in 2017 after 20 years as a Program Manager for a high tech start-up located in the San Francisco Bay Area. She shares her home in the high desert of Nevada with her husband, two bloodhounds, ten chickens, and a rooster, and is mother to two daughters. She enjoys hiking, skiing, biking, reading, and walking among the sagebrush and wildlife she and her family share in their little slice of paradise.

Dhonielle Clayton is COO of We Need Diverse Books. She is the co-author of the Tiny Pretty Things series and The Belles series. She grew up in the Washington, DC suburbs on the Maryland side and spent most of her time under her grandmother’s table with a stack of books. A former teacher and middle school librarian, Dhonielle is co-founder of CAKE Literary, a creative development company whipping up decidedly diverse books for a wide array of readers. She’s got a serious travel bug and loves spending time outside of the USA, but makes her home in New York City, where she can most likely be found hunting for the best slice of pizza.

Kathie Weinberg is a library consultant with the Library of Congress Young Readers Center, and a Program Coordinator with An Open Book Foundation. Formerly she was head of Teen Service at the Bethesda Library in Montgomery County Maryland. She has a Masters in Science from Simmons College, and a BA Degree from the University of Wisconsin. An active member of the American Library Association, YALSA Division, she has presented at annual meetings on programming and space planning for teens in public libraries. She is on the board of Capitol Choices Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens.

Terry Hong created and maintains Smithsonian BookDragon, an extensive book blog for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, where she was media arts consultant for eight years. She was an original Advisor for Girl Rising, a global action campaign highlighting girls’ education; she was the Writer Wrangler for the film of the same name. She taught for Duke University’s Leadership in the Arts. She co-authored two books, Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture from Astro Boy to Zen Buddhism and What Do I Read Next? Multicultural Literature; other publication credits include Booklist, Christian Science Monitor, Library Journal/School Library Journal, NYT, San Francisco Chronicle, School Library Journal, Shelf Awareness, and many others. She is the Advisory Board Chair for Booklist. She has served on various award committees, including the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the Audies, and chaired USBBY’s Outstanding International Books and the Hans Christian Andersen U.S. Nominations. Follow Terry on Twitter @SIBookDragon.

Miranda Paul is an award-winning children’s author of eight picture books, including the nonfiction titles One Plastic Bag and Water is Water, both named Junior Library Guild selections. Her books have received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly, and select awards include a 2017 ILA Teacher’s Choice (Whose Hands Are These?), 2016 Green Earth Book Award Honor, 2016 Children’s Africana Book Award Notable (One Plastic Bag), Maryland Blue Crab Award winner and Charlotte Zolotow Notable title (Water is Water). Miranda makes lively appearances at schools, libraries, and bookstores, and has been a guest presenter at the Library of Congress Young Readers Center along with environmental activist Isatou Ceesay. Her 2018-2019 works include Adventures to School and I Am Farmer, both co-authored with her husband, Baptiste Paul. She believes in working hard, having fun, and being kind. Though her work as Mentorship chair of We Need Diverse Books is mostly serious and professional, she also has a silly side—which, she claims, only comes out on days that end in y. Learn more at www.mirandapaul.com.

Meg Cannistra writes both middle grade and young adult books. She’s the author of THE TROUBLE WITH SHOOTING STARS, a middle grade novel coming out in Summer 2019. After living in New York City and North Jersey for a few years, Meg now resides with her two cats, Gloom and Doom, in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has a BA in English Literature from Flagler College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University. When she’s not taking pictures of her cats or wandering around grocery stores, she writes magical, mysterious, and sometimes scary stories. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @MegCannistra, and learn more about her books at www.megcannistra.com.

Leslie Stall Widener was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She and her husband Terry Widener, also an illustrator, moved to Texas in 1980.

In the 1990’s, she created illustrations for educational projects with Scribner McGraw-Hill,McMillian Publishing, Whittle Communications, Boy’s Life Magazine, and a picture book for Summit Publishing.

After working as a freelance art director and photography stylist in catalogue advertising, she’s returned to the business of illustration, most recently with three traditional Choctaw tales, including “shuka anumpa” (pig tales).

She’s currently revising a middle grade novel about a 14-year-old girl named Mahli. This story is based on the Choctaw’s forced removal from Mississippi to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) during the Trail of Tears. Leslie is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a legacy of her maternal grandmother.

She and Terry live in a 1912 farmhouse in historic McKinney, Texas and have 3 grown children.

Jessica Agudelo is a Youth Collections Coordinator at BookOps for the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library. Most recently she served as chair of the 2021 Pura Belpré Award committee and was chair of NYPL’s debut Spanish language best-of list, Mejores libros para pequeños, in 2019. When she is not reading or writing, you can find her listening to comedy podcasts, amateur birding, or napping. Jessica comes from a large and vibrant Colombian family and was born and raised in Queens, New York.

Sandie Angulo Chen is a film critic, entertainment reporter, and book reviewer. She’s written professionally about movies, books, and pop culture for more than 20 years, contributing to outlets such as Common Sense Media, where she’s the senior reviewer, The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, EW.com, Moviefone, and Variety. She’s a proud member of the Washington Area Film Critics Association, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and the nonprofit advocacy group We Need Diverse Books. Sandie lives in Silver Spring, MD, with her husband and three children.

Nawal wakes each morning to a cup of strong coffee and a head full of stronger ideas. One time zone away, Cornelius does the same thing, but with tea. Over the years, the two of them met through these ideas , and they soon learned to grow many others. Together. As book people, parents and educators, they believe in the power of storytelling as a way to connect our imperfect past to the infinite potential of our future. For families. For children. And for the world. 

They are both educators who work in many capacities, but the capacity that energizes them the most is that they share and discuss stories with young people. There is power in this. Especially when it is done with an intentional focus on diversity. They believe that seeking words and experiences that are different from our own help us be more human. 

You can learn more about Nawal at NQCLiteracy.com and Cornelius at KassandCorn.com and connect with them both on Twitter @NQCLiteracy and @MisterMinor.

Edie Ching, a former school librarian, now teaches courses for librarians in the I School at the University of Maryland. She is an active member of Capitol Choices and former president of the Washington Children’s Book Guild.  She has served on the Newbery, Caldecott, and Notable Children’s Book Committees and will serve on the 2023/24 Coretta Scott King Jury.

Sara Conway is a New York-based writer of many things, including books, art, and music. She is currently a library page at her local library, where she discovers even more books to add to her ever-growing TBR pile. Sara also runs Lyrical Reads, a book blog dedicated to uplifting diverse voices, with a soft spot for Asian and Asian American stories. She can be found writing reviews for her book blog, taking photos for her bookstagram, or (re)tweeting about all the books on her Twitter.

Sarah Cooke is a digital journalist and culture writer. She has written feature articles, blogs, and interviews for Marvel, DC Comics, Fembot Magazine, Voice of Youth Advocates, and more. Sarah has reported live from both the New York and San Diego Comic-Cons. She authored an article discussing methods of teaching line art in comics for the forthcoming book How to Analyze & Review Comics: A Handbook on Comics Criticism, published by Sequart Publishing. She worked as a digital media assistant at the Junior Library Guild and she is a big fan of science-fiction, fantasy, and all things geeky.

Steve Dunk was born on Vancouver Island, British Columbia and now lives near a lake just outside of Toronto, spending his days obsessing over most things in geek culture, but mostly just trying to drink coffee and read in peace.

He’s been blogging for various sites for as long as he can remember, focusing on the big three, movies, books, and music. His reading tastes stick pretty close to Young Adult but occasionally ventures outside enjoying middle grade, new adult, and adult as well. Fantasy, sci-fi, speculative, romance, contemporary…he loves it all.

He reviews books and interviews authors on his podcast, Everything is Canon, over at Cinelinx.com with a focus on BIPOC/LGBTQIA+ authors and allyship.

He doesn’t like sports, has lots of Star Wars books, and has two dogs. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram.

Lisa Gachara is a graduate student at the Duke Global Health Institute. Kenyan-born, she is passionate about the health and well-being of children worldwide. As a student, advocate, and storyteller she strives to promote global health through media which currently takes place through her blog and podcast.

Meagan Gough received her PhD from USASK with a Major in Comparative Aboriginal History and Anthropology in 2015. Her Master’s research was also in Cultural Anthropology and based on an oral history project undertaken in 2003 in collaboration with members of the Stó:lō First Nation. Her love of people, as well as her belief in the value of celebrating and maintaining the stories, teachings, and traditions of those she works with, has inspired her travels and diverse learning experiences working as a field researcher and oral history interviewer across North America.

Chinelo Ikem is a blog volunteer for We Need Diverse Books, and a bookstagrammer @interestedinblackbooks. She has been an avid reader ever since her first grade teacher introduced her to the Junie B. Jones series. Her bookstagram, as well as her bookish blog, is dedicated to highlighting Black authors, especially Black women and Black queer voices. She received her double B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from UC Santa Barbara, and her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law. She is based in Northern California.

Liz Janusz is a New Mexico-based educator and literacy coach. She believes deeply in classroom, and school libraries, having a wide range of representation and visibility for students. Ensuring that ALL students have access to a wide range of diverse books is something that she has become extremely passionate about. Liz is also the founder of Windy City Literacy, a blog offering literacy musings for educators across the world. Follow along with her on her blog, or on Twitter: @mrs_janusz.

Khadejah Khan writes about anything and everything if given a thorough brief on a subject. Like Grandpa Joe, she lives in pajama co-ords and never leaves her bed, where she is wrapped burrito-style in her blankets. She has an insatiable sweet tooth, as well as a voracious appetite for fiction, children’s stories, and historical non-fiction. When she isn’t freelancing or reading, she’s quoting SpongeBob, rewatching MCU movies and reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show, kayaking with her siblings, or tanning like a rotisserie chicken poolside in Florida. She is currently a Mentee with Creative Access & Penguin Random House Mentoring Programme and will start a full-time role as an Editorial Assistant at LUXE Interiors + Design.

Kaley Kiermayr is a Boston-based editor, freelance writer, and marketer. She is currently an Executive Assistant at The Theater Offensive, a nonprofit that produces liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color. She received her Publishing MA at Emerson College. In her downtime, she enjoys getting involved with LGBTQ+ literature and writing projects.

Michele Kirichanskaya (she/her) is a freelance journalist and writer from Brooklyn, New York. Currently studying at the New School, when she is not writing, she is reading, watching an absurd amount of cartoons to survive reality, and creating content for platforms like Hey Alma, Salon, The Mary Sue, GeeksOut, ComicsVerse, The Gay & Lesbian Review, and more. Her work can be found here and on Twitter @MicheleKiricha1.

Alana Ladson is an illustrator and character designer who loves to read, write, and draw. During the day, she is the program coordinator for an after-school program at Yale Peabody Museum. At other times you can find Alana sipping chai lattes with oat milk, taking online courses, or reading all types of books— from adult fiction to young adult to poetry to comics to picture books. Alana’s current favorite picture books are The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Bilal Cooks Daal, and The Proudest Blue. She is currently working on writing and illustrating her own children’s picture book. You can find her illustration work at alanaladsonart.com.

Samantha Leong is a Special Sales sales assistant at Ingram Content Group. She has previously interned at Scholastic Library Publishing, Candlewick Press, and Simon and Schuster. Her favorite genre is fantasy, and she loves to bake.

Anisa Lewis is a Communications Specialist in the Higher Education industry located in Southern California. She enjoys the art of storytelling in its many forms whether through books, podcasts, documentaries, or interviews. Anisa is passionate about representation in storytelling and believes in its power to spark creativity, inspire, and empower the voices of young people. In her spare time she likes to cook, hike, and watch an occasional, healthy dose of Netflix/Hulu.

Amy Liu received her B.S. from Brown University and currently works in health policy and research in San Francisco. In her free time, Amy enjoys reading, journaling, trying and reviewing new restaurants, and exploring independent book shops. Amy especially loves reading (and rereading) books from women authors like Brit Bennett, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Donna Tartt. She hopes to highlight works from AAPI and other diverse authors through WNDB!

Christine Lively a librarian at Wakefield High School in Virginia. She writes a monthly column for the Teen Librarian Toolbox blog of the School Library Journal about teens who fight the system to change their world. Christine is a Certified Life Coach for Young People ages 14-24 at christinelively.com. Christine lives in Fairfax, Virginia with her family and hound dog Gabi where she raises monarch butterflies, knits, and collects hippos of all types. You can follow her at XineLively on Twitter and Instagram.

Gianna Macchia is a Milwaukee-based educator and high school literacy coach. She believes reading cultivates empathy, and the more educators can encourage students to read, write, think, and discuss outside of their own perspective, the more they can contribute to building a more accepting, socially aware world. She thinks we should never doubt the power of representation and visibility, especially for adolescent youth. When Gianna isn’t engrossed in YA books, she and her wife enjoy traveling, live music, hiking, cooking, and snuggling their pets Gatsby, Atticus, and Huckleberry, the literary brothers from different mothers.

Paola M. is a Mexican morenita who loves books and musical theater. She is currently at Caffeine Book Tours, as a marketing assistant. She runs a book club called Accidentally in Love, dedicated to reading adult romance books by marginalized authors. She is also the organizer of LHM Book Fest, a month-long event dedicated to uplifting Latinx voices in literature, and Virtual Indie Book Fest, a virtual festival to boost indie authors.

Maria Mayor is an English Studies graduate from Spain. Passionate about language learning as well as literature and especially devoted to finding every book with good LGBT+ representation. She has completed various courses on different aspects of the publishing industry.

Grete Miller (she/her/they/them) is an award-winning queer filmmaker and passionate LGBTQIA+ history advocate and activist. Working in product management, DE&I, and storytelling, she views the past and its lessons as roadmaps that can influence positive change for people, policy and products. Miller has worked to craft impactful media, harness storytelling to make the invisible, visible, and create inclusive and accessibility opportunities through creative tech. She has been a contributing writer on DEI in medial and visual storytelling for Curve Magazine and Shutterstock, a global stock media licensing company located in New York City, NY. Her writing has also been published in the lesbian literary journal, Sinister Widsom. In 2020 she co-founded the grass roots group, The Friends of Lyon-Martin House, a history project dedicated to the landmarking and long term preservation of the home of iconic lesbian activists, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin. In 2021 Miller became the chair of the American Library Association’s Rainbow Roundtable’s Archive and Oral History Ad Hoc Committee and founded the Stonewall Book Award Author collection.

Ivanna Moreno (she/her) is a graduate of the University of Florida and collaborator on the Haitian American Dream Timeline, a digital library exhibit focused on Haitian immigration to the United States. She was selected as a Fellow for Digital & Inclusive Excellence by the Association of Research Libraries for the 2019-2020 cycle, and aspires to continue learning about ways to promote diversity and accessibility in libraries and other educational institutions. Her favorite genres include science fiction and mystery.

Olivia Mules is currently pursuing her master’s degree in library and information science. Olivia’s goal is to work in academic librarianship and reference services with a focus on information literacy. Before starting her degree program, she was a special education teacher and taught math and science. Her favorite literary heroines are Elizabeth Bennet, Gemma Doyle, and Arya Dröttning. When Olivia is not doing schoolwork, she enjoys cooking, music, hikes with her wife and daughter, and drinking an inordinate amount of iced coffee.

Sarah Murphy Traylor is a Blog Volunteer with We Need Diverse Books.  Sarah works as an educator in Houston, Texas, supporting teachers across multiple school districts and is driven by the belief that all students deserve access to an excellent education.  A lifelong reader and former English teacher, Sarah is thrilled to join the We Need Diverse Books Volunteer Team and can be found sharing books on Instagram at @smtlovestoread.  Sarah enjoys delicious restaurants, participating in competitive trivia events, creating awful puns, and taking walks with her husband and daughter.

Amy Nam is a student from Toronto, Ontario. She serves as the executive director of The Reclamation Project, a nonprofit organization focused on raising the next generation of informed and anti-prejudiced people, where she leads the publication of The Radical Magazine and campaigns for more inclusive and anti-biased youth education. Through her work, Amy has gained a deep passion for social activism and the power of storytelling. She enjoys writing short stories that provide snippets into people’s lives and politically charged op-eds with clear-cut calls to action and no space for passivity.

Dhanika Pineda is a Literary Journalism and English student at the University of California, Irvine. She is an aspiring journalist who is passionate about storytelling in a way that is more helpful than harmful, more accurate than trend-worthy, and more honest than persuasive. When she’s not reading and writing for classes, she’s usually still reading and writing for fun. She especially enjoys cultural narratives, poetry, and fantasy. To give her eyes a break from words, she likes to cook, bake, and nap. You can find her on Twitter @DhanikaPineda.

Thushanthi Ponweera is a blog volunteer for We Need Diverse Books and a WNDB 2021 picture book mentee with author David LaRochelle. She was born and raised in Colombo, Sri Lanka where she lives with her husband and two children. She grew up reading and falling in love with stories about children and places that were foreign to her. She believes that someday children from around the world will read and fall in love with stories about children in Sri Lanka. She hopes to write those stories. You can find her on Twitter @thushponweera and on Instagram @bythush.

Nithya Ramcharan is a high school senior from New Orleans. She loves reading and writing fantasy and science-fiction stories. When she isn’t busy with schoolwork, she also loves art, music, playing with her dogs, and dreaming of all the places she would love to visit. Diversity in literature is something she is passionate about, as it was relatively scarce when she was young and its lack impacted her writing and outlook negatively.

Karis Rogerson is an American, Canadian, pseudo-Italian who loudly (but only sometimes fluently) speaks 2.5 languages and is proud to be of the auburn-haired club. As a reader and writer, her childhood heroes included Anne of Green Gables and Jo March (classic), and these days she admires authors like Angie Thomas, Sandhya Menon, and Heidi Heilig, who are changing the world one brilliant story at a time. Find more of her writing on her website, and follow her on Twitter or Instagram for writing updates and pictures of Italy and New York City.

Parul Sharma grew up in Shimla, a city in North India that was once the summer capital of the ruling British. Her first love is writing children’s and young adult stories about the trials and triumphs of memorable characters as they go about finding their place in the world. She believes nothing stirs the soul and builds empathy for worlds outside our own experiences like a well-told story. Diversity in children’s literature is close to Parul’s heart—every child’s story is important enough to be told.  Parul is a graduate of the Institute of Children’s Literature and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She is a creative writing mentor at WriteGirl, a Los-Angeles based creative writing and mentoring organization that promotes creativity and self-expression to empower teen girls. Her writing has been published in Cricket Magazine. She lives in Los Angeles.

Yeonwoo Shim is a high school student from South Korea who is passionate about accessibility and diversity in children’s education. She has a strong aspiration to learn and loves telling stories, whether it’s through writing, art, speech, or acting. Outside of school, she enjoys grabbing her camera and taking photos of the world around her through photography. Coming from an Asian-American immigrant family, she grew up seeing a lack of diversity in the books she read, but hopes that through WNDB, she can help more diverse characters come under the spotlight.

Tamara Ellis Smith is a children’s book author who lives in Vermont with her pretty large family—consisting of humans, dogs, cats, chickens, and a mouse. Her middle grade novel Another Kind of Hurricane was a Bank Street Best Book of the Year and a Vermont Book Award Finalist. Kirkus kindly suggested that her picture book Here and There is “needed everywhere.” Her second picture book Grief is an Elephant is coming from Chronicle Books in 2023. When Tam isn’t writing, she can be found running on a river trail with her dogs. Visit her online at tamaraellissmith.com or on Instagram at @tamaraellissmith.

Asha Sridhar is a freelance writer based out of Jersey City. She loves wandering through old historic buildings, bustling streets and anything that closely resembles a bookshop.

Suniti Srinivasan is a blog volunteer for We Need Diverse Books, and a middle schooler in International Community School. She is very passionate about law and International Studies. When she is not doing schoolwork, she expresses herself through classical dance and finds it to be a great stress reliever. She is an animal enthusiast and has a golden retriever who keeps her busy. She has been an avid reader from a very young age, absorbing the tales of strong character in fantasy lands and in society. She hopes to share her joy of reading with the world and help highlight more diverse authors through this platform.

Isabel Taswell (they/she) is an avid reader, writer, teacher, and learner based in New York City. They are committed to decolonizing education and believe in the power of children’s literature to affirm a child’s sense of self and commitment to community. Isabel received their B.A. in English-Psychology from Barnard College and their M.S. in Education from Bank Street College of Education. In their free time, Isabel enjoys climbing mountains, cooking meals, and jumping in puddles.

Ashley Wells Ajinkya is currently an Author Experience Manager at Kindle Direct Publishing. As an avid reader and book collector, she’s passionate about working with authors. Ashley is also a graphic designer and has degrees in Graphic Design, Art History, and Fine Arts. If she’s not working or reading, she can usually be found drinking an iced latte, digging through a thrift store, or planning her next trip. You can find her on Instagram at @waysofmagic.

Danielle Wilkinson is a 20-something aspiring author from Atlanta who has always loved the feeling of getting lost in a good story. In 2021, her blog Danielle The Writer was selected as The Write Life’s 100 Best Websites For Writers. She also started her first business the same year, where she teaches new and aspiring authors how to dominate on Instagram so they can grow a community of loyal fans. When she’s not working or writing, you can find her reading with a cup of tea, listening to podcasts, trying to take the perfect photo for her Instagram, or fangirling over K-Pop videos.

Anna Yesilevskiy has a graduate certificate from NYU’s summer publishing institute, an M.S.Ed in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a BA in Psychology with double minors in Creative Writing and Women and Gender Studies and currently works as a K-12 tutor and as a legal writer. Anna is also the host of a YA book club at a Brooklyn Public Library branch and is from Brooklyn, New York. You can find her @annielikestoreadandwatchtv where she talks about books and TV shows.

The daughter of Korean immigrants, Linda Sue Park is the author of many books for young readers, including the 2002 Newbery Medal winner A SINGLE SHARD and the NYTimes bestseller A LONG WALK TO WATER. Her most recent title is THE ONE THING YOU’D SAVE, a collection of linked poems illustrated by Robert Sae Heng (HMH/Clarion Books, March 2021). Visit her at www.lindasuepark.com and on Twitter @LindaSuePark.

Suma Subramaniam is the contributing author of The Hero Next Door (Penguin Random House, July 2019). She is also the author of She Sang For India: How MS Subbulakshmi Used Her Voice For Change (Macmillan FSG, Winter 2022) and Namaste Is A Greeting (Candlewick, Fall 2022). She is the Mentorship Program Coordinator for SCBWI Western Washington. She hires tech professionals for a leading software company during the day and is a writer by night. Suma has an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and degrees in computer science and management. Visit her website at https://sumasubramaniam.com.

Jim Averbeck works, plays, and evades the law in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. His first book, In a Blue Room, was a Charlotte Zolotow Honor book. His popular books Except If and Oh No, Little Dragon! feature charming protagonists with pointy teeth. His book, The Market Bowl and his middle grade novel, A Hitch at the Fairmont were Junior Library Guild Selections. Chosen by indie booksellers for their very first Diversity Initiative, his book One Word From Sophia, was a Top 100 African-American Kids’ Book included in Marley Dias’ viral 1000blackgirlbooks video, as well as a Kirkus and Bank Street Best Book of 2015, and a “must read” IndyNext Top 10. Other books include Trevor for Roaring Brook Press/Neal Porter; and the “fun, clever, and empowering” Two Problems for Sophia and Love by Sophia, companion volumes to One Word From Sophia.

Spy agencies can find Jim online at jimaverbeck.com

Kandace Coston grew up in the Bronx, New York, where she spent her weekends at the library reading stories and writing her own. After graduating from Barnard College, Columbia University, she won a grant from WNDB during the inaugural year of their summer internship program. Kandace completed her internship at Lee & Low Books, an independent, multicultural publisher, and today, Kandace is the associate editor at Lee & Low where she enjoys working with new authors and illustrators on all kinds of picture books.

Alexandra Hightower is an Atlanta native who took a circuitous route to publishing. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in neuroscience, and then, realizing her passion lay closer to books, she pursued a MS in Publishing, Print and Digital Media from New York University. Currently, she is an Associate Editor at Little Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group) and when not editing and devouring manuscripts, she can be found binging any and every podcast.

J. Albert Mann is a disability activist, an award-winning poet and the author of eight published novels for children. She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults and is the Partner Liaison for the WNDB Internship Grant Committee. She lives on a little fishing boat in the Boston Harbor with her first mate, Marcella, a ginger tabby.

Talisa Ramos is a born and raised New Yorker/Nuyorican. A graduate of Barnard College, she earned her degree in American Studies & currently works on the Sales team at Penguin Random House. She is passionate about all facets of literacy, storytelling, literature, and public speaking. A proud Brooklynite, she lives in Brooklyn with her precocious dog Jax, where she can be found binge reading or binge watching compelling stories of all genres.

Karen Sandler is the author of nineteen novels for adults, and the YA science fiction Tankborn trilogy from multi-cultural publisher Lee and Low Books. She’s currently adapting the Tankborn series for television. An enthusiastic advocate of diversity in children’s literature, she is a founding team member of We Need Diverse Books.

Jafreen Uddin is Executive Director of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, which is devoted to creating, publishing, and developing creative writing by Asian Americans, and to providing an alternative literary arts space at the intersection of migration, race, and social justice. She is the first woman to lead the organization since its founding in 1991.

Stephanie Cohen-Perez is an editor, writer, and reviewer based in New York City. Having grown up in a multicultural and diverse background, Stephanie hopes to support underrepresented and marginalized voices in all genres of literature. She enjoys YA stories about ghosts and goblins and outer space the most, and dabbles in illustration for young readers. Stephanie lives and travels with her well-read dog, Teddy. 

Esther Gim has built a career editing at media outlets with an arc toward justice. Currently she is a senior editor at Rewire.News, a nonprofit online publication that covers reproductive and sexual health rights. and justice. She’s also a lifelong lover of books and libraries.

Kayla Lightner is an agent assistant at Ayesha Pande Literary. Prior to joining the wonderful team at APL, she worked at Liza Dawson Associates. A Georgia native with a B.A. in English from Vassar College, Kayla worked as a fashion market assistant at Harper’s Bazaar and a freelance writer at Creative Loafing Atlanta before finding her way to publishing.

Isabella Peralta is a Filipino writer, editor, and educator whose work explores identity, diaspora, love, and belonging. As an advocate of racial and cultural diversity in literature and new media, Isabella has worked for various organizations and festivals that champion underrepresented voices, including the Global Migrant Festival, Ayesha Pande Literary, Poets House NYC, and We Need Diverse Books.

Danielle Yadao is a Brooklyn transplant who pretends to miss the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest. She works in marketing at Scholastic and is a member of its diversity sub-committee. She’s often found catching up on week-old viral trends and celebrity gossip, bingeing very dramatic television, and fangirling over every dog on the street. She’s a staunch believer that it’s not hoarding if it’s plants.

Morika Tsujimura (2021 Walters Chair) teaches Math and Science at Grace Church School in New York City. Her previous service on book committees has included the 2020 WNDB Walter Committee and the Bank Street Children’s Book Committee, as well as the Cook Prize and the Irma Black Prize, both awarded by the Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature. Morika is also involved in organizing the annual Young Men of Color Symposium and YALA Gala for APISA+ youth and has presented at national conferences for the Progressive Educators Network and NAIS. Born in Nagano, Japan, she grew up in Harlem and now lives in the Bronx.

Cathy Berner, a former school librarian, is the Children’s/YA Specialist and Event Coordinator at Blue Willow Bookshop, an independent bookstore on the west side of Houston, Texas. She also serves as the programming coordinator for three literary festivals: Bookworm, TweensRead, and TeenBookCon, all of which promote reading and literacy by connecting young readers and authors.

Lindsay Hall has been fortunate to work with students from grades kindergarten through twelfth grade, and is currently a lower school librarian at Sidwell Friends. She has worked to spread great books for children through projects in Guatemala, Ghana, and Jamaica. A Georgia native, she currently lives in Washington, D.C. and has occasionally reminded people that #DCPSNeedsLibrarians.

Alicia K. Long is an academic librarian and Access Services Supervisor at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. She also is an adjunct instructor at the University of South Florida’s School of Information, where she teaches Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults. She is a past Chair and member of the Pura Belpré Award Selection Committee (co-sponsored by REFORMA and ALSC), a former reviewer for The Horn Book Magazine, a 2012 ALA Emerging Leader, and a 2010 ALA Spectrum Scholar. Alicia is originally from Argentina.

Working over 30 years as a classroom teacher or school librarian, Gregory Lum is the Library Director at Jesuit High School’s Clark Library in Portland, Oregon. He previously served on the Michael L. Printz Award Committee in 2012 and 2014, as chair of the 2016 Excellence in Nonfiction Award Committee, the 2018 Schneider Family Book Award Committee, the 2019 John Newbery Medal Committee, and will return to the 2022 Walter Award Committee. Most recently, Lum was recognized as YALSA’s 2021 Volunteer of the Year. He lives in Portland, Oregon, and enjoys traveling with his four grown children.

Joe Prince, a former middle school librarian, is the Curriculum & Outreach Educator at Bowling Green State University’s Jerome Library. He previously served on the 2020 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Committee and will serve on the 2022 Sibert Committee. He lives in Bowling Green, OH, with his husband and their collection of cardigans.

Hadeal Salamah is a Lower/Middle School Librarian at Georgetown Day School in Washington D.C. She served on the 2021 APALA Picture Book Committee. Hadeal previously served on the 2020 APALA Literature Committee; 2019 Stonewall Book Awards-Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award and 2018 ALSC Building Partnerships Committee as Co-Chair. She will serve on the 2022 Newbery Committee. Hadeal reviews for Kirkus and is a co-founder of Hijabi Librarians, where she is one of four librarians reviewing children’s and young adult literature featuring Muslims.