MA/MS in Book Publishing: Advisory Board

Leah Altman (she/hers; Oglala Lakota/Persian)

Leah grew up as a member of the Portland urban Indian community and comes from a background in Portland-area social service and environmental justice nonprofits, primarily in grant writing and donor development. She comes with an MA in writing and is an alum of the Portland Emerging Arts Leaders mentorship program and the Coalition of Communities of Color’s Bridges program. Leah is currently enrolled in the low-residency MFA in creative writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Her passions include beadwork, poetry, cooking, and playing pool; she has two daughters.

Leah Hernandez

Leah Hernandez is the Founder and CEO of Young Authors Publishing, a children's book publisher that exists to share the stories of Black and Brown children. Leah is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where she obtained her degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. In 2021 Leah was named one of Publisher's Weekly Star Watch Nominees. Leah aspires to continue to impact the lives of others by helping them share their stories.

Kenechi Uzor

Kenechi Uzor is the founder of Iskanchi Press & Mag. He has a B.A in Philosophy, a B.Sc. in English/Creative Writing, an MFA in Fiction, and a Graduate Certificate in Publishing. Kenechi’s writing has been included in anthologies and has appeared in Electric Literature, The Millions, Catapult, and others. He is a Tin House Scholar, a winner of the Scowcroft Prose prize, second place winner of the Open border Fiction Prize. He has received residency and fellowship awards from Ebedi International Residency and the Dee Artists’ Colony, Montana. Kenechi Uzor is an Associate Instructor of writing at the University of Utah.

Nellie McKesson

Nellie McKesson has almost 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, with a particular expertise in applying automation and technology to the book production workflow. Her early roles doing hands-on book production work just as ebooks began to rise in popularity were a key building block for the rest of her career as she helped publishers of various sizes implement single-source and automated workflows. Nellie helped to move O'Reilly Media to an HTML-centric production process, implemented Macmillan trade's first fully automated single-source production tool, and founded her own company - Hederis - whose goal is to bring single-source workflows to publishers of all sizes. She is a frequent public speaker on the topics of HTML-first workflows, single-source publishing, and publishing technology generally, and is one of the co-founders of the PageBreak publishing conference.

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.