Meet the team.

 

I know what you’re thinking: why do three white people care so much about diversity?

As avid readers and lovers of books, we appreciate good story telling and how books are some of the best teachers. We believe that the lessons we learn from books can help educate people on the systemic issues surrounding minorities, including those that may be invisible. Our team consists of people who fall into the category of “invisible minority” and wish to diversify fiction to help readers realize that they too have a main character who looks or acts like them.

  • Lea Kaplan (she/her)

    CREATIVE DIRECTOR

    Lea has spent her professional life at the intersection of graphic design and publishing, working with publishing houses such as Random House of Canada, Kids Can Press, Iguana Books, and others. With degrees in publishing from Ryerson University in Toronto and in graphic design from Parsons The New School in New York, Lea considers herself an artistic jack-of-all-trades who has dabbled in everything from photography to theatre to cosplay.

  • Drew Beaudoin (he/him)

    EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

    Drew has a way with words that, according to his business partners, make people need to Google words when he speaks. A published author himself, Drew’s debut novel, Grayscale, hit online stores in 2020 under the pen name A.E. Clarke. Meanwhile, he is a father to over 100 house plants and several cats, his home in Windsor, Ontario is the perfect reading nook where he also can be heard belting showtunes at all times.

  • Jessie Gurniak (she/her)

    COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

    Currently working on a degree in Communication Studies at Athabasca University, Jessie already has a diploma in Public Relations from St. Clair College. She is an avid bookworm (find her bookstagram @book.wyrm1995) with a passion for the performing arts. Located in Windsor, Ontario, you can usually find her at one of three places: the theatre, the library, or the hockey arena.