Ellen Oh is a founding member, President, and CEO of We Need Diverse Books. She is also the author of the middle grade novels Finding Junie Kim, The Dragon Egg Princess, and The Spirit Hunters trilogy (Spirit Hunters, Island of Monsters, and Something Wicked), and the YA fantasy trilogy The Prophecy Series (Prophecy, Warrior, and King). She is the editor of the middle grade anthology Flying Lessons and Other Stories, and the YA anthology A Thousand Beginnings and Endings. Note: the CEO position at WNDB is a volunteer role. 

Dhonielle Clayton is a New York Times Bestselling author of The Belles series, Shattered Midnight, co-author of Blackout, and the co-author of the Tiny Pretty Things duology, a Netflix original series. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She taught secondary school for several years, and is a former elementary and middle school librarian. She is COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books, and President of Cake Creative, an IP story kitchen dedicated to diverse books for all ages. She’s an avid traveler, and always on the hunt for magic and mischief. Note: the COO position at WNDB is a volunteer role. 

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.

Hena Khan is an award-winning author of picture books and middle grade fiction. Her middle grade novel Amina’s Voice launched Simon & Schuster’s groundbreaking Salaam Reads imprint and was named a Best Book of 2017 by the Washington Post, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and others. The sequel, Amina’s Song, won the 2021 Asian/Pacific Award for Children’s Literature. Hena wrote the popular Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream series, and More to the Story, a novel inspired by her all-time favorite book, Little Women. Hena’s acclaimed picture books include Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, Under My Hijab, Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets, Night of the Moon, and It’s Ramadan, Curious George.

Hena began writing for children with Scholastic book clubs, publishing books for popular series about spies, space and more. She went on to write several pick-your-path format books including adventures to Mars and the Amazon rainforest. However, as a mother, Hena yearned to see books that represented kids like her children and decided to write them.

Today, Hena writes full time, often highlighting aspects of her culture, faith, community, friendship and family, and she draws heavily from own experiences. She loves exploring different formats to excite different readers, including a forthcoming graphic novel and new pick-your-path series. Hena enjoys presenting to children, educators, community members and others, and being a mom to two now teenaged boys. Whenever she gets the chance, Hena travels with her family, bakes, and reads books written by her favorite children’s authors.

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.

Jordan Lloyd Bookey is co-founder of Beanstack, an education technology company with products that motivate people to read more.  With thousands of school and library system clients globally, Beanstack helps to inspire millions of people to read more, together. More recently, Jordan launched a podcast, The Reading Culture. On the show, she interviews diverse kidlit and young adult authors (including WNDB’s own Ellen Oh!), about their personal journeys, inspirations, and ways to build a stronger culture of reading in our communities.

Before taking the leap to start Beanstack, Jordan served as Google’s first Head of K-12 Education Outreach, leading the company’s efforts to increase access to quality Computer Science education and technology for students; before this role, she served as a DE&I program manager. Jordan spent her early career teaching middle school and serving at a literacy-focused nonprofit. She holds an undergraduate degree in Latin American Studies from Wesleyan University and earned her MBA from The Wharton School of Business. Jordan currently serves on the boards of the EDCJCC as well as Mosaic Theater. Originally from Des Moines, Iowa, her first job was as a 7th-grade Language Arts teacher in DC, where she fortuitously met her husband and now co-founder, Felix. Members of Temple Sinai, they live in DC with their children, Cassius and Florence, and dog, Howie.

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.

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. Now, as Executive Director, she eagerly looks forward to launching new programming, donating more diverse books to schools and libraries, and growing the organization even further.

Caroline is also an award-winning author and 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.

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.

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.

Chelsea P. Villareal (she/her) is a Mexican American media strategist from PDX. She holds a BUPA in Political Science & Media Studies from Portland State University and recently completed her Master’s in Communication & Education at Columbia University. Her passions focus on participatory cultures, civic imagination, speculative storytelling, and intersectional Latinx identity representation — across all media. As Program and Partnership Manager at WNDB, Chelsea manages the Rise Up and Internship Grant Program.

Doris Allen is an African American publishing professional specializing in bringing attention to Black authors and Black-owned bookstores across the country and amplifying Black voices in literature through networking on her Bookstagram account (@OnyxEditions). She conceptualized and spearheaded “Paint this Cover,” an initiative presenting readers the opportunity to envision book covers for authors and booksellers, which was inducted into DeKalb County Library (Georgia) programming. Keeping her ear to the social media streets, in order to find more voices within the African diaspora to champion, is one of her greatest passions. An army brat, she has lived in Germany, New Mexico, Missouri, New York, and Philadelphia. She spent her childhood obsessively reading across genres, writing mandatory book reports for her grandmother about little known Black History (that couldn’t be used for school), and attending her father’s gospel quartet concerts. A tireless advocate for the special needs community, parent of a child on the spectrum, and mentor to parents of autistic children. She currently lives in Queens, New York with her husband and children.

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.

Sophia Chunn (she/her) is a North Carolinian, which means she has a love/hate relationship with being southern and a love/love relationship with sweet tea. Raised on superheroes and music in a biracial household, she was limited only by her imagination.

Sophia still lives in NC but astro-projects to the NY area to be a book cover designer. She’s worked with HarperCollins, Macmillan and Penguin Random House.

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.

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.

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.

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

Esther Cajahuaringa is a proud Peruvian-American, originally from sunny California and has made the East Coast home for nine years. Prior to publishing, she was a former educator and has her master’s in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. Esther is currently an editor at Alfred A. Knopf BFYR (Penguin Random House) and lives with her husband in New York City.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.