Michelle Lewis
Michelle Lewis and her husband are owners of Third Eye Books Accessories and Gifts located in Portland, Oregon. She has over 15+ years of experience in the Health and Human Services field, specializing in families involved in the criminal justice and/or child welfare systems. She is a former Afrocentric Mental Health practitioner that provided culturally specific mental health services to the BIPOC community; she comes with an MSW in Social Work graduating in 2013 from PSU Master Social Work program. She is currently a part-time adjunct faculty member who has been teaching at the SSW for the past six years. She was initiated as a Sacred Woman Practitioner (SWP), Kemetic Reiki Master; Vibrational Sound Therapist, and is currently studying for Certified Holistic Health & Wellness Coaching. She currently uses these tools to assist the BIPOC community in taking back their power to heal themselves.
Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Guy LeCharles Gonzalez has worked in the media business for over 25 years, and is currently the Chief Content Officer for LibraryPass. Previously, he was the project lead for the Panorama Project; publisher & marketing director for Writer’s Digest; director, content strategy & audience development for Library Journal & School Library Journal; and founding director of programming & business development for Digital Book World. He’s also a published poet and sporadic journalist; former National Poetry Slam champion (representing the Nuyorican Poets Café); and co-founder of a little bit louder / The louderARTS Project.
Linda A. Duggins
With a career that spans twenty-five-plus years in the publishing industry, Linda A. Duggins believes that literature, the arts, community engagement, and reading are crucial elements to making the world a better place. For Edelweiss, as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, she develops and implements innovative and comprehensive strategies to engage publishing professionals, industry organizations, authors, and community partners. She is recognized for her achievements on behalf of Hachette Book Group USA where during her twenty-year tenure she was Senior Director of Publicity and Director of Multicultural Publicity having successfully led national campaigns for multiple genres, as well as countless breakout titles, including representing authors such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Misty Copeland, Leesa Cross-Smith, Pam Grier, Jane Goodall, and many others. Additionally, Linda is a Co-founder of the Harlem Book Fair, the nation’s flagship Black literary event promoting literacy and literary expressions with writers of the African Diaspora. She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Book Club Conference, whose mission is to advance literacy and knowledge through reading and dialogue. A native New Yorker, Duggins is also the President of the Board of Directors of the Queensbridge Scholarship Fund where she helps to facilitate continuing education scholarships for full-time college students who are residents of Queensbridge and Ravenswood Houses in Queens, NY.
Chelsea Villareal (she/her)
Chelsea P. Villareal is a Children’s Media Strategist from Portland, Oregon. She holds a BUPA in Political Science & Film 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. She works on the Brand Marketing team at Penguin Young Readers and also works at We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) as a Program Manager handling the Internship Grant Programs. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and two crazy, lazy feline beasts.