We Need Diverse Books
Contact: Jennifer Mann, Director of WNDB Internship Grant Committee
jennifermann@wndb.local

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 15, 2018 (New York) —We Need Diverse Books is pleased to announce the winners of the
2018 WNDB Internship Grants. In the program’s successful first three years, grants of $2500
were awarded to 25 interns. Of those 25, 64% have gone on to full-time work in the publishing
industry.

Many thanks to the LJTJ Family Fund whose recurring donation funds grants for five interns.
This year, we also thank the Gnat storytelling series which enabled grants for three additional
interns for a total of eight. On top of the $2500 grants, each intern will receive a two-month
metro stipend.

The following diverse publishing interns have been selected for the 2018 WNDB Internship
Grants:

Shadin Al-Dossari – Candlewick
Aaliyah Barnes – Hachette, Little Brown
Bidisha Bhattacharya – Lee & Low
Natali Cavanagh – Hachette, Little Brown
Ruqayyah Daud – Simon & Schuster
Michaela Glover – Candlewick
Elliane Mellet – Simon & Schuster
Jasmine Perry – Scholastic/Arthur A Levine Books

“Every year we have so many excellent applicants for the WNDB Internship Grants, it’s always difficult to choose among them,” said Linda Sue Park, Honorary Chair of the WNDB Internship Grants Committee. “This year was no exception. And as always we are gratified by our publishing partners’ commitment to this program. We’re especially excited that so many of our interns from previous years are now working full time in the industry–it’s exactly the kind of long-term change we’re hoping for.”

We Need Diverse Books is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 2014 to address the lack of diverse representation in the children’s publishing industry. The WNDB Internship Grant is one of many initiatives funded or supported by WNDB. More about the organization is available here. More information about the WNDB Internship Grants is available here.