Michelle Duster is a writer, speaker, professor, and champion of racial and gender equity. In the last dozen years, she has written, edited, or contributed to eleven books. She cowrote the popular chi…
Victoria Christopher Murray is the author of nine Essence bestselling novels, including The Ex Files; Too Little, Too Late; and Lady Jasmine. Winner of the African American Literary Award for Fiction …
Michael Norton is an associate professor of marketing at Harvard Business School. His research has twice been featured in the New York Times Magazine Year in Ideas issue. In 2012, he was selected for …
A’Lelia Bundles is the author of Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance (June 2025 Scribner), about her great-grandmother whose parties and arts patronage helped define the era. She ha…
Beverly Jenkins is the recipient of the 2017 Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for historical romance.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ann Aguirre has been a clown, a clerk, a savior of stray kittens, and a voice actress, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house acro…
Jeanne loves finding a true story (especially about an inspiring creative person) that is engaging and fascinating, and then using her creativity to tell the story. She hopes children will have a love…
Laura Bates is the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, an ever-increasing collection of over 100,000 testimonies of gender inequality, with branches in 25 countries worldwide. She works closely wi…
John Robert Lewis was the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district, serving since 1987 and was the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. He was a leader in the American Civ…
Jake Owensby is the fourth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana and the twenty-sixth Chancellor of Sewanee: The University of the South.
Nic Stone was born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, GA, and the only thing she loves more than an adventure is a good story about one. After graduating from Spelman College, she worked extensively i…
About the author Lydia is the author of the award-winning DUST BOWL GIRLS: THE INSPIRING STORY OF THE TEAM THAT BARNSTORMED ITS WAY TO BASKETBALL GLORY, a thrilling depiction of the birth of women's co…
Morgan Jerkins is the author of the New York Times bestseller, This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America and the forthcoming Wandering In St…
Jenifer Lewis is one of Hollywood’s most familiar faces, with more than 300 appearances in film and television. Dubbed a “national treasure” by TVGuide.com, Jenifer currently stars on the Emmy-nominat…
Stacey Abrams is an American politician, lawyer, author, and businesswoman who was the house minority leader for the Georgia General Assembly and state representative for the 89th House District. She …
Janae Marks is the New York Times bestselling author of the Zoe Washington series, A Soft Place to Land, and A Split Second. Her work can also be found in the middle grade anthologies Hope Wins, edite…
Aaron Shulman is the author of the forthcoming non-fiction historical narrative The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain’s Most Notorious Literary Family and the Long Shadow of the Spanish …
Tamika is author of The Curse of Hester Gardens (Erewhon/Kensington), Unshod, Cackling, and Naked (Unnerving Books), which is the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards WINNER for Horror, and which Pu…
Valerie (V.M.) Burns was born in Northwestern Indiana and spent many years in Southwestern Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline. She is a lover of dogs, British hist…
Reshona Landfair was the face of of 4 The Cause, a four-person musical group signed to RCA/BMG from 1994-2000. More recently, Reshona has worked in community health within the Chicago public school sy…
