David Risher - CEO and Co-Founder

As Worldreader’s CEO and Co-Founder, David is a lifelong reader who knows that books have the power to change lives, just as they have changed his. He has been at the forefront of technology for more than two decades, first as a general manager at Microsoft and later as Amazon.com’s Senior Vice President for Retail and Marketing, responsible for growing the company from $16 million to $4 billion in sales. David later taught at the University of Washington’s Business School where he was elected Professor of the Year, served as president of the Board of the Benjamin Franklin International School, and is a member of ESADE Business School’s International Advisory Board and the International Advisory Board of Catalonia.

David has a comparative literature degree from Princeton University and a MBA from the Harvard Business School. In 2011, he was named a Microsoft Alumni Foundation Integral Fellow and a Draper Richards Kaplan Social Entrepreneur.

On reading:
“Growing up, books were my way to explore the world. We can make it possible for children everywhere to do the same.”

His Favorite Books:
As a kid: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
As an adult: The Odyssey

Twitter: @davidrisherWR

Colin McElwee – Co-Founder

Colin is Co-founder of Worldreader and focuses on business development, putting to good use his for-profit and non-profit experience across the globe. Most recently, Colin was the first director of marketing at ESADE Business School in Barcelona, where he helped establish the school’s reputation as a world-class business education provider. Prior to that, he started his career as an economist for several Brussels-based lobbies to the European Commission, and later worked in global marketing in the consumer goods sector for Scottish & Newcastle PLC.

He has two young daughters and like them is an avid reader of books (now there’s a surprise!). Colin has a degree in economics from the University of Manchester and an MBA from ESADE Business School. He is an invited member of the Global Agenda Council on Africa of the World Economic Forum.

His take on reading:
“The images created by the written word make an indelible mark on the mind.”

What got him reading:
Rumplestilskin

Twitter: @ColinMcElwee

Neil Johnston – Director of Development

Neil joins Worldreader from a successful career in the for-profit world. As an executive and an independent consultant, he sourced over $300 million in new revenues from individuals and organizations. He found creative new ways to grow revenue for organizations of all sizes, ranging from startups, such as “Her Interactive” – developer of the award-winning Nancy Drew series of video games, who creates compelling content to draw girls into computing via entertainment, and where Neil’s efforts resulted in a 1500% increase in revenue over two years; to Fortune 200 “Tandem Computers” (now a part of HP/Compaq), where he was instrumental in creating worldwide programs generating over $170mm as Tandem grew from $0.75 million to $2.2. billion.

Neil is a native of Cork City, Ireland, who emigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was 8 years old.

On reading:
“Oral storytelling was still a significantly active art when I was young. When I moved to the U.S., this led to a love of libraries, where I spent most of my indoor time. The librarians used to regularly forgive my small, chronic, overdue book fees (they would sigh every time I walked in the door).”

Favorite Books:
As a kid: Tom Swift
As an adult: The 6,528-page “Aubrey/Maturin” novels by Patrick O’Brian. Infinitely re-readable old friends.

Twitter: @NeilJohnstonWR

Zev Lowe – Director of Research and Business Development

Zev joined Worldreader at the very beginning, jumping right into our first test pilot in Barcelona. Later, he would draw upon that experience to launch many of our other projects in Africa. Zev leads our research team, measuring outcomes and impact; drives Worldreader strategy as we grow and explore new ideas; and serves as lead problem-solver and way-smoother as we tackle a series of “firsts”. Zev entered the world of social enterprise when he left Goldman Sachs in London to serve as a Kiva Fellow in Indonesia, and has not looked back since. In his varied career, he has also worked as an ethnographer, a software architect, and a full-time Aikido apprentice.

Zev has computer science and anthropology degrees from Dartmouth College and a MBA from ESADE Business School. He is currently a Ph.D candidate at ESADE in Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

In his words:
“As a kid, reading time was sacred. Nobody would interrupt me — not even to ask me to clean my room! Through reading, I discovered worlds other than my own, and words that kept me company so I was never alone.”

Twitter: @zevlowe

Susan Moody – Director of Marketing and Communications

Susan directs Worldreader’s online strategy, media relations, corporate sponsorship and branding strategies. Prior to Worldreader, Susan did online marketing for various start-ups and companies in Spain and the U.S., including Icon Medialab and Teletech. She wrote two children’s books that teach kids how to appreciate different cultures.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and a MBA from IESE.

Books that made her fall in love with reading: 
A Wrinkle in Time, and any series she could get her hands on, including The Black Stallion, The Great Brain, Nancy Drew Mystery Stories and The Hardy Boys.

Twitter: @soozmoody

Tina Tam - Director of Operations and Technology

Tina leads Worldreader’s operations and scaling efforts in Ghana, Kenya, and the US. She launched Worldreader’s first projects in Kenya and Uganda and is the Product Manager of Worldreader Kits. Prior to Worldreader, she studied sustainable development and consulted for organizations such as Ashoka and Banorte in areas of micro-finance, impact investing, technology and development and corporate social responsibility. She was a content publishing manager and programmer/writer at Microsoft.

She received a degree in cognitive science with computing specialization from UCLA and a MBA and MS in natural resources from the University of Michigan Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise.

The books she loved when she was young:
A series on the classical stories behind Chinese idioms, written in Chinese

Twitter: @tina_tam

Heidi Williams – Director of Finance & Control

Charged with keeping our multi-continental accounting books in order, Heidi started her career in quality, financial and process control at American Express and, later, went to Bank of America. Recently, she managed quality and process controls at a biomedical materials start-up company, and was a business manager at a small intellectual property law firm.

She holds an English degree from the University of Utah.

What reading means to her:
“Reading is the entire universe and all its knowledge and insight conveniently packaged into something you can carry and enjoy quietly. Thankfully, an e-reader is much lighter than the hardbacks I used to carry!”

Elizabeth Hensick Wood – Director of Digital Publishing and Mobile Platforms

Elizabeth works with authors and publishers, to get a wide variety of the best digital books possible for our e-reader and mobile phone readers. She also oversees the development of Worldreader Mobile, our newest digital platform. Her multinational career has included jobs with Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine in Paris, DDB Needham in Hamburg and Accenture consulting group in London.

Elizabeth has a journalism and communications degree from the University of Florida and a MBA from INSEAD.

What makes a book worth reading:
“A good book for me is one where I constantly stop and think, ‘Wow, how did the author conjure that sentence, that word, that analogy?’ I’ll read great sentences over and over, marveling at the structure and the words.”

Twitter: @lizzywood

Michael Sam – Country Director, Ghana

Michael manages all aspects of Worldreader Ghana’s growing operations: legal, financial, operational and key stakeholder relationships: government, development agencies, publishers, media, technology firms, mobile carriers, potential partners, school administrators, teachers and students. Prior to Worldreader, he consulted for various organizations such as SOS Children’s Villages, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sapient and American Online (AOL) in areas of child welfare development, strategy technology & innovation, program & project management and agile coaching.

He received a degree in Management of Information Systems and a MBA with focus on management and entrepreneurship at Robert H. Smith School of Business at University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland in United States.

Books he loved when he was young:
Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe and The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born – Ayi Kwei Armah

Samuel Alomenu – Operations Assistant (Ghana)

Samuel assists in managing ground operations for Worldreader Ghana programs. He operates out of the schools, in charge of designing and documenting day-to-day activities and out of classroom experiences, with an eye towards scalability and sustainability.

Sammy started a reading community in his neighbourhood called eselfone, where his aim was spreading the message for people to education themselves — to pick up a book and pick up a passion. Their belief was that if only every kid were to learn to enjoy reading, their community would be a better place. He volunteered for Worldreader for about a year as part of the eselfone team.

How Reading Changed His Life:
As a child, his father would always buy him the “junior graphic” [a newspaper for young people] and ask him to learn about the world. Reading has taken to him to worlds unknown, and for him that is what all children need to be empowered with; the opportunity to feed their imagination and explore the endless possibilities in their world.

Lisa Andracke – Video Manager

Lisa produces and edits Worldreader’s videos. Her films have aired on major television networks including ABC, CBS, Discovery Channel, History Channel, IFC, NBC, PBS and TV3, among others. Her HBO documentary received two Emmys, and her recent film, Hijos de Sansón, was selected for the International Film Festival, DOCSBARCELONA.

She studied Spanish language and literature at Colby College and has a master’s degree in theory and practice of creative documentary making from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Books she has long loved:
The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man and the Sea and The Great Gatsby

Twitter: @Andracke

Beatrice Asamoah – Ghana Operations Assistant

Beatrice runs operations in Suhum, Ghana, monitoring and overseeing the treatment schools under All Children Reading (ACR). She studied Chemistry at Mount Holyoke and Chemical Engineering at UMass Amherst. She is an avid reader who somehow found herself in the sciences, instead of the humanities. Though she mildly misses tensors and differential equations, doing field ops with Worldreader has already topped her list of best moments.

‘I grew up feeling I could be anything I wanted to be, and I still do. I can’t imagine a life without the power to dream: the power to dream the unimaginable. It’s an ‘impossible’ path without the simple ability to read, and, like me, everyone deserves it!’

Her favorite books:
Anything Dean Koontz, Stephen King, John Grisham, Lawrence Kelter, Trevor Scott, Michael Prescott, James Patterson, really, anything fiction and thriller.

Jennifer Baljko – Content Manager

Jennifer blogs for Worldreader and helps manage social media. She is an award-winning journalist and has written for various business, technology and travel publications in Manhattan and Silicon Valley. She is a founding member of the Townsend 11 writers collective, which published three e-anthologies, and is co-founder of a multimedia start-up.

Jennifer has degrees in journalism and political science from Rutgers University.

Favorite books on her Kindle:
Graceful by Seth Godin and A Moveable Feast edited by Don George

Twitter: @jbaljko

Fatos Berisha – Operations Manager, US

Fatos set up Worldreader’s operations center in San Francisco and is the organization’s supply chain and logistics expert, ensuring devices loaded with the appropriate books arrive safely in kids’ hands. Fatos is also in charge of the Kindles donation program. He has seven years of work experience in roles of operations, customer service, and management in various industries including the printing and sports retail industries.

His recent favorite read:
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

Nadja Borovac - Marketing Manager

Nadja manages Worldreader’s marketing and communications strategies including online, branding, media relations, design, corporate sponsorships and social media. Previously, she worked in the B2B and B2C sector as a global communications and social media specialist, working with companies such as Unilever, Siemens and ConnectPR.

Nadja is a native of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina but moved to the United States with her family when she was 12 years old.  She now resides in Barcelona, Spain and hopes to soon be reading digital books in Catalan. She has a mass communications degree from University of California, Berkeley and a Masters in marketing and sales from ESADE and Bocconi.

Books that drew her in:
Song of Solomon, Of Mice and Men and Beowulf

Twitter: @NadjaBoz

Joseph Botwey – Operations Manager, Ghana

Joseph oversees the daily operations of our iREAD program in Ghana. He is also the founder of Reflex Media, an interactive media company in Ghana. Skilled in photography, production and directing, Joseph has been a set designer at Top Studios, and worked for international clients such as Marcel Desailly/UBS, Baglioni Hotels and the British Council in Ghana.

He completed film-making studies at the Academy of Screen Arts.

A book he loves and why:
“I loved Faceless by Amma Darko. It gave me a different perspective of the underground world in Ghana.”

Kimee Johnson – Assistant Partnership Development Manager

As Assistant Partnership Development Manager, Kimee evaluates all Worldreader Kits applications. She is responsible for post-launch followup and streamlines communication with existing and potential partners.

Kimee attended Wellesley College where she earned a B.A. in History with a focus in international affairs. At Wellesley, she was awarded the competitive Albright Fellowship, which funded her internship at Worldreader. Her non-profit experience before Worldreader includes Gemini Ink, a literary arts organization, and numerous immigrant advocacy groups.

A book-related anecdote from her:
I loved the American Girl Doll books. The historic stories of bold ten year-old girls would subtly influence some of my best life choices, including attending a women’s college and studying history.

Twitter: @kimeejohnson

Sarah Jaffe

As a member of the Research Team, Sarah plays a key role in the development, monitoring and evaluation of our e-reader programs, with the goal of maximizing their educational impacts. Sarah’s work in education began in a two-room schoolhouse in rural Costa Rica, where she served as a public school teacher and founded a community library. She later joined Room to Read as a Global Program Associate, supporting the organization’s school library and local language publishing programs. Most recently, Sarah worked as a gender mainstreaming consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank.

Sarah has a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Master of Public Administration in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University, and is a certified yoga teacher.

Book she reads at least once a year:
Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins. .

Clara Miralles Codorniu – Development & Finance Manager

Clara oversees the financial and human resources management of our offices in Spain and Africa. She ensures that our global operations are in legal compliance with national and international regulations, and helps improve inter-office communications and administrative processes. She also develops and maintains contacts with interested partners based in Europe, with a special focus on building relationships with educational institutions and possible funders.

She has a law degree from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a master’s in international and European law, with a specialty in international trade and investment law, from Universiteit van Amsterdam.

The best book ever given to her:
The Little Prince by Antoine de Sant-Exupéry

Twitter: @ClaraCodorniu

Sharon Langevin – Partnership Development Manager

As the Worldreader Kits team’s process guru, Sharon is responsible for making our program as efficient as possible. She also works closely with the organizations and schools who are part of our Worldreader Kits program to ensure successful projects and lasting impact.

Sharon previously directed a mobile money project in Kenya with FrontlineSMS:Credit, worked as a field researcher for the Africa Center for Engineering Social Solutions, and served as a strategy consultant focused on Africa for IBM Corporate Technology. She also co-founded Better World by Design, an annual conference which explores technology and design for social impact, and now serves as the president of the Board of Directors.Sharon holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a master’s degree in Integrative Studies, focused on anthropology, development studies, and economics, both from Brown University.

Favorite Books: When I was young, I loved the Little House on the Prairie series. As an adult, some favorites include Jane Eyre and Gone with the Wind.

Twitter: @sglangevin

Joan Mwachi-Amolo – Operations Manager, Kenya

Joan Mwachi-Amolo is an education professional with 15+ years of experience developing and implementing training programs and capacity-building initiatives around non-formal school systems in impoverished communities. She has expertise in designing training programs and tools for start-up organizations; monitoring and evaluating instructional outcomes; and recruitment and training operations. Joan most recently has been the Regional Support Manager in Operations at Bridge International Academies, a Nairobi-based organization that builds a network of ultra-low cost private primary schools. She was also a class teacher for a number of years.

Joan received a Bachelor of Education degree and a Master in Education Administration degree, both from Kenyatta University.

One of her favourite books is “An Enemy Called Average” by John L Mason.

Elena Nikolova – Software Development and Operations Manager

Elena is our Barcelona-based IT specialist.  She was a digital video engineer at Philips Innovative Applications, and a software engineer consultant at TTP.

She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering from the Technical University of Sofia, and a doctorate in computer engineering from Loughborough University.

Books she can’t get enough of:
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and anything by Hemingway, especially Green Hills of Africa

Martine James Omondi – Operations Assistant, Kenya

Martin assists in implementing and tracking Worldreader e-reader programs throughout Kenya. With a background in Information Technology his knowledge of IT, mobile phone applications and e-reader support is vital to the success of our local programs. He has worked with the US International University, Africa and Bridge International Academies and was actively involved in the configuration, testing, training and implementing of smartphone applications and e-readers in Kenyan low cost primary schools.

He Studied Information Technology at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya.

His favorite book is ‘Become a Better You’ by Joel Osteen.
He believes that books influence your character and make you who you are.

Alex Polzin – Digital Production Manager

Alex works on the digital publishing team. He previously taught English and worked as a district coordinator at four public schools for the EPIK program in rural South Korea before gaining digital and print publishing experience while working for Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, and co-founding the Detroit-based literary collective writer/type concern.

He has a bachelor’s in English from the Honors College of Michigan State University and is currently a master’s candidate in the Construction and Representation of Cultural Identities at the nearby Universitat de Barcelona.

Two favorites:
Cien años de soledad and Calvin and Hobbes

Periša Ražnatović – Mobile Platform Manager

Periša is responsible for Worldreader’s mobile platform development. He works with local and international ICT partners to ensure access to books through mobile phones to thousands of readers across the globe.

Periša holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Singidunum University as well as Master’s degrees in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies of the Erasmus University Rotterdam and in International Relations from the Institut Barcelona D’Estudis Internacionals.

Books that inspire him:
Winnie-The-Pooh by Alan Alexander Milne,
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

Michael Smith – Partnership Development and Publisher Relations Manager

At Worldreader Michael spends his time developing partnerships to launch e-reader projects in Africa. Working with new and existing partners, Michael will help you develop the right game plan that will meet your literary objectives and financial goals to bring an e-reader project to your community. Michael is also focused on developing long-term relationships with publishing houses outside of Africa to bring e-books to the developing world.

Prior to joining Worldreader, Michael spent 10 years working in the Canadian Financial Services Industry where he was last the Vice President of Risk and Compliance for an independent Canadian and US Brokerage Firm. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts honors in English Language & Literature from the University of Western Ontario.

The book he loves most:
“My favorite novel of all time is James Joyce’s Ulysses. The challenge of reading one of the most complex books of the 20th century and enjoying it was the ultimate reward.”

Twitter: @RothwellSmith

Mary Robb D. Teague – Development Manager

Mary Robb joins the Worldreader team with career experience in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. She was the founder of BlackInk Portfolios, Inc., a grant writing and capital development firm that specializes in securing funding for non-profit organizations and served as the Vice President of Campaign Financial Services in Washington, DC. Mary Robb also served as Press Advance for the President and First Lady of the United States, coordinating with the national media on staged electoral events.

She is a graduate of the University of Colorado, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Journalism and Mass Communications. She is an alumna of the President’s Leadership Class and Georgetown University’s Fund for American Studies, Institute on Political Journalism.

A book she reads at least once a year: The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico

Twitter: @MRWorldreader

Julia Valencoso de Celis – Assistant Marketing Manager

Júlia is experienced in the communications and corporate social responsibility fields, and strongly believes in the power of 2.0 platforms/social media to engage communities. She is currently helping Worldreader expand its social media efforts and has recently launched profiles on Pinterest and Instagram to reach broader Worldreader audiences.

She loves challenges and learning new languages. She holds degrees in Tourism Management and Public Relations from the University of Barcelona, and holds a Master in Corporate Social Responsibility.

Favorite International writer: Haruki Murakami
Favorite Spanish writer: Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Twitter @juliadecelis

Danielle Zacarias – Digital Publishing Manager

Dani works on the Mobile and Digital Publishing team, working closely with African and Indian publishers to ensure our readers have access to the literature they want and need. Dani started out with Pearson Education, but gravitated toward nonprofits in 2009. She has volunteered at a woman’s shelter in Thailand and worked with Engineers Without Borders Canada.

Dani holds degrees in criminology and English from the University of Toronto.

The power of reading:
“Not every reader becomes a critical thinker, but I think the more readers you have accessing a variety of information, the more likely you are to have critical thinkers as well.”

Twitter: @DanieZacarias

Xavier Amoros

Xavier, also known as Xavi, has joined the Worldreader team as an SEO strategist and will be focusing on multiplying and broadening our online strategy. As an engineer, he has a broad technical background with a focus on software engineering, electronics and internet applications. Building a better and more sustainable future with the help of new technologies and innovation is one of his life goals.

Xavi holds a master in Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and did his final master thesis in the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands). He is currently finishing an MBA in e-business at IEBS.

The first book he remembers reading (and with his father): Gulliver’s Travels. His favorite author is Isaac Asimov and science fiction makes him dream of a better future (or at least different one).

Twitter: @xavieramoros

Nancy Brown

Nancy assists the digital publishing team with production and helps acquire content for Worldreader Mobile. Nancy’s love for travel brought her to Barcelona two years ago. She spent her first year teaching English as an Auxiliar de Conversación. While she is not in the classroom this year, Nancy is enjoying writing for a Catalan publication, B30, and working as the location coordinator for Global Experiences, an international internship program. She is working on improving her Spanish and hopes to learn Catalan soon.

Nancy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from The University of Alabama.

Her favorite quote on books:
“Books should be called major and become canonical when over time they provide existing individuals with live options that will help them change for the better.” Mark Edmundson

Twitter: @NancyGBBrown

Jessica Buster

Jessica writes for the Worldreader blog. She is an editor, tutor, and stay-at-home mother in the Boston area. She currently works freelance and has previously taught seventh grade and worked in educational publishing.

She has an MS Hon. in English and an MLit in Mediaeval English, both from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

Currrently reading: Our Babies, Ourselves, and a lot of Sandra Boynton
Consistent Favourite Author: Robin McKinley

Tanja Commike

Tanja assists the communications team. She is a hospitality professional, and has held various positions in hotels such The Breakers Hotel in Florida and The St. Regis Hotel and one of the Thompson Boutique Hotels, both in New York.

Books she loved growing up:
Grimm’s Fairytales, Der Kleine Vampir by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg and anything by Enid Blyton, especially the “Hanni & Nanni” stories (“St. Clare’s” in English)

Twitter: @tcommike

Kyle Dozeman

Kyle is helping create a business plan, strategy plan, and pitch deck for use with large foundations in pursuit of capacity grants. He currently works at a software company in Silicon Valley where he is focused on corporate strategy and global alliances.

Kyle graduated from Cal Poly, where he studied finance and statistics. In his spare time, Kyle enjoys traveling, kiteboarding, and recording music.

A few of his favorite books:
1984 by George Orwell, Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov and Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.

Twitter: @KyleDozeman

Erica Ernst

Erica is focused on researching and pursuing how Development and other parties within Worldreader can maximize the benefits of our CRM. She has wide-ranging non-profit experience in the Bay Area, using multiple CRM programs and being directly involved in event planning and donor research/outreach.

Erica holds a BA and MA degree in International Studies from the University of San Francisco. In the summer of 2012, she completed her Master’s thesis research in rural libraries in Burkina Faso, where she used qualitative and quantitative methods to demonstrate the importance of culturally relevant children’s reading materials.

Erica is a member of two book clubs. Her recent favorite books include: A Little History of the World and A Man’s Search for Meaning.

Natalie Huezo

Natalie volunteers at Worldreader by applying her marketing education and assisting in publications. She was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in Loveland, Ohio.

She is currently studying at an international business school, La Salle, in Barcelona.

Her favorite book is:
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.

Twitter: @natalie_huezo

Alisa Jacobo

Alisa Alisa is focused on researching and pursuing M&E grants on behalf of Worldreader. Currently teaches at Pacific Union College near beautiful St. Helena, California, where she is an instructor in the Social Work and Psychology Department. Her areas of study and interest include nonprofit management, community and organizational development, global social work, and program design and evaluation.Before returning to Pacific Union College, Alisa worked as a program evaluator and program manager at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Alisa has worked in a variety of settings with diverse populations

Alisa holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan and a Bachelors of Social Work and a Bachelors of Art in Spanish from Pacific Union College.

Her favorite book:
Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) by Laura Esquivel.

Maryanna Klahn

Maryanna volunteers at Worldreader as David Risher’s executive assistant.

Maryanna was David’s executive assistant for five years at Amazon in Seattle, and she also held positions at the company’s Luxembourg operations. She worked at retailer Tesco in England where her main responsibility was onboarding new hires.

Her favorite book is:
Pippy Longstocking was the first book that Maryanna couldn’t put down. Nowadays she enjoys reading almost anything.

Emily Kunze

Emily volunteers at Worldreader assisting with web marketing and SEO management. She is star swimmer and is the only volunteer that has been roped into swimming the strait of Gibraltar with Susan Moody to raise funds for literacy in the developing world.

Emily’s professional background includes working in the finance sector with various venture capital firms. She holds an MBA from IESE business School and a BA in International Studies (Latam Economic Development) from Kenyon College.

The Secret Garden was the first book that got Emily into reading. Nowadays she enjoys reading almost anything.

Lesley Mensah

Lesley gives a hand to the operations team as an education specialist. Lesley’s career includes primary school teaching in London and working in education recruitment for Reed Education. After relocating to Ghana in 2003, she worked in Ghana International School and also as a volunteer teacher in local government schools. Lesley is a private tutor and education consultant offering curriculum implementation support, teacher training and general support for schools at the expansion stage.

Lesley has a diploma in Business Studies and Administration from the University of Wolverhampton and a degree in African Studies from the University of Birmingham and P.G.C.E. from Goldsmiths’ College, London.

In her own words:
The first story I remember that got me into reading was Porridge Town by Enid Blyton. My mother read it to me one evening at bedtime and from then on I developed an addiction to porridge. This was my gateway into the world of reading and a healthy appetite!

David Mimila

David helps Worldreader make the most of the online world by assisting on SEO, SEM and web site analytics initiatives. Madly in love with the Internet and it’s potential for good, David has accumulated experience in both the direct response and branding sides of online marketing.

He holds a BA in Design and Visual Communications for which he received the Gabino Barreda medal from Mexico’s National University before moving on and specializing in Marketing Communications. He is now looking forward to exploring the world through books and his own eyes.

Some books that transformed his life:
The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Never Ending Story by Michael Ende, Steppenwolf by Herman Hess, Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar.

Stacie Moore

Stacie is located in the San Francisco office and focuses on e-reader kit processing and special projects within Worldreader. Stacie has twenty years experience developing and running community supervision programs and brings ten years of experience in operations and contract management. Stacie’s latest role was Deputy Director of a $42M national community supervision contract.

Stacie has a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Organizational Management. She now brings skills in operational efficiency and new program development to the Worldreader organization.

On books:
I come from a long line of readers. Sharing books and discussing stories gives my family a special connection to each other.

Lalit Nadkarni

Lalit assists the Development Team with proposals, provides editorial services and also helps with annual report.

Lalit is a business and technical writer with over 10 years’ experience in the field, specializing in communications, business, and technical content in both the private and non-profit sectors. She grew up in Kobe, Mumbai, Paris and London. She has an MA in French and English Literature from the University of London, and a BA in Economics, Politics and French.

Among her favorite books are:
As a child: Peter Pan and Little Women.
As an adult: Pride and Prejudice and Around the World in Eighty Days.

Jesse Potash

Jesse is assisting the Worldreader Kits team in its partnership outreach efforts. He is the founder of Pubslush, a global, crowdfunding publishing platform for authors to raise funds and gauge the initial audience for new book ideas.

He has a BBA in Finance from Baruch College in New York City, and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s Summer Venture in Management in Program. He also serves on the board of directors for the Pubslush Foundation, which is committed to supporting children’s literacy initiatives worldwide. He is a native New Yorker, yogi, boxer, aspiring pianist, and wanderluster.

His favorite authors are:
Arenas, Rowling Baldwin, Gide, Rand.

Alison Rich

Alison Rich is a twenty year veteran of the Manhattan publishing business, currently living in Barcelona for the year with her family.

She is a Vice President, Executive Director of Publicity for Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. and has orchestrated campaigns for such bestselling and acclaimed authors as John Grisham, Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Tina Brown, Pat Conroy, Jane Hamilton, Thomas Kenneally, Gore Vidal, Jonathan Lethem, Colson Whitehead, and countless others.

Favorite quote about the power of reading: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr Seuss

Sara Rhyne

Sara is our star lead teacher ambassador. She was instrumental in providing teacher training during our launch with The Kilgoris School. She spends her days teaching teachers and designing professional development by blending best curriculum practices and technology for a school district in North Carolina.

She has degree in literature from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and a master’s in instructional technology and library science from Appalachian State University.

The first book she remembers reading until she had it memorized:
Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells

Twitter: @Rhynes

Monica Salgado

Monica translates materials into Catalan and Spanish. She is an English teacher at the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas, and has done various translation, interpretation and editing projects for local and international clients, including Adidas, IBM, Novell, Novartis, SAP and Weather.com.

Monica has a Bachelor of Arts in translation and interpreting from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and master’s degree in speech therapy from ISEP.

A book close to her heart:
La regenta by Leopoldo Alas Clarín

Nicole Stanbridge

Nicole is a research volunteer for Worldreader, performing literature reviews, annotation and content retrieval. She was a publications manager, implementing communication strategies and medical publication plans for academic journals and congresses, and worked as project manager at University of Michigan Health System.

She is studying for a Master of Information Science degree from Borås University. Nicole has a master’s in education from the University of Michigan, where she also studied Latin, and a bachelor’s humanities from Michigan State University with majors in classical and European history, Greco-Roman architecture and business.

One of her all-time favorites:
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Alex Sulzberger

Alex manages large-scale e-book downloads for our kids in Ghana. He has worked on information and communications technology projects in Austria, Israel, Germany and West Africa, and with the United Nations and Internet service providers and telecoms in West Africa. Alex is CEO of Ecoband Networks, a Ghanaian connectivity solution provider.

He has Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and philosophy from the University of Vienna.

The book he discovered in high school:
Homo Faber by Max Frisch

Twitter @blaqhaq

Dana Swenson

Dana Swenson grew up in Seattle, Washington but moved to Spain permanently after a study abroad program when she was 21. She taught English for many years in various schools and then took a job at the magazine, Barcelona Metropolitan as an editorial/design assistant. Design drew her in and she eventually became the Art Director of their four magazines.

Dana has a Bachelor of Arts at UCLA in World Literature.

A book that made a lasting impression: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Twitter @DanaSwenson3

Julie Trell

Julie is supporting Worldreader by providing her expertise in the areas of Marketing, Communications and Development. Julie is also making introductions to key individuals in relevant organizations to increase awareness and involvement of the Worldreader mission. She has helped raise nearly $30k for Worldreader since April 2012.

Prior to her “consulteering” with Worldreader, Julie was a founding member of the Salesforce.com Foundation and helped grow the organization over the last decade. Prior to salesforce, she was an elementary school teacher and technologist specialist in a middle school helping teachers to integrate technology into the classroom and curriculum. Education will always be a passion of hers.

Favorite author:
Dr. Seuss. Julie channels him whenever she can! (And Shel Silverstien was always a favorite to read with her students).

Twitter @julietrell