Meet the Team
We are a global nonprofit. Our team works diligently to get families reading, and children ready for school.
Senior Leadership
Rebecca Chandler Leege
CEO
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Veronica Gutierrez
Sr. Director, Global Human Resources
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Sergio Grau
Director, Technology
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Olivia Kimani
Director, Partnerships & Services, Kenya
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Sonny Lacey
Director, Product
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Mirtha Vaca-Wilkens
Director, Transformational Giving
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Erin Williams
Sr. Strategic Operations Officer
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Heidi Williams
Director, Accounting & Administration
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Staff
David Burgos
Sr. Software Lead Engineer
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Julia Cheng
Manager, Development & Operations
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Kelley Kemp
Lead Product Designer
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Kevin Lewis
IT Manager
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Lisa McManus
Sr. Curriculum Designer
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Angela Riggs
Staff Recruiter/Executive Associate
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Guillem Santapau
Lead Software Engineer
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Mourice Wabwire
Content & Programs Associate
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Rebecca Chandler Leege
CEO
Rebecca Chandler Leege is Worldreader’s new Chief Executive Officer. From 2018-2023, Rebecca led Worldreader’s impact across the globe as Chief Impact Officer, helping the nonprofit reach over 22 million readers and transforming the organization’s strategy to be laser-focused on getting children reading across under-resourced communities.
With more than 25 years of people-centered global leadership experience, Rebecca has a proven track record of growing innovative organizations through creative collaborations, cross-sector partnerships, and strategic vision.
A creative humanitarian and nonprofit leader, Rebecca previously co-led All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development, now one of the longest-running edtech innovation efforts across the US Agency for International Development (USAID). As Director of Child Protection, Gender, and Education, at World Vision, she led a team working to reduce gender barriers and inequities and child labor/trafficking across the fishing and cocoa sectors. Rebecca also worked with World Relief in Rwanda as their Director of Programs before relocating to their headquarters as Director of Global Program Operations, covering complex international relief and development operations from Mongolia to Haiti.
Before choosing the humanitarian path, Rebecca spent six years in the private sector in international human resources consulting with Fortune 500 companies. Her career spans leadership roles across education, child protection and gender sectors and she has lived and worked throughout Africa and Asia for over 15 years.
Rebecca holds a Master of Science in Multinational Commerce from Boston University and is based in Atlanta, GA with her family, and is always ready for a cup of coffee. She invites everyone to read The Story of You, by Lisa Ann Scott and illustrated by Sue Cornelison on BookSmart.
Veronica Gutierrez
Sr. Director, Global Human Resources
As the Sr. Director of Global Human Resources, Veronica focuses on developing and leading HR strategies globally across Worldreader. Some of these strategies include workforce planning, talent management, employee relations, and regulatory compliance. She brings over 18 years of HR experience to Worldreader from growing start-up companies to mid-size. Enhancing the employee experience is her passion.
Veronica holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business with a concentration in Human Resource Management from the University of Phoenix. She also holds a Professional Human Resources (PHR) Certificate and is an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Veronica loves spending time with her family and enjoys traveling.
Her recommendation of a book is Build a Culture of Good by Ryan McCarty and Scott Moorehead.
Sergio Grau
Director, Technology
As Director of Technology, Sergio leads a highly effective team of data engineers, data scientists, and data analysts who are responsible for building and maintaining the analytics systems that power our educational technology solutions.
Sergio brings 20 years of experience in the technology field, spending the last ten as a manager of software and analytics teams. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, and a Specialized Master’s degree from Telecom Bretagne. He holds a Master’s of Science degree in Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.
When Sergio is not working, you can probably find him hiking in the mountains with his family or reading ancient history books.
He recommends reading The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox.
Olivia Kimani
Director, Partnerships & Services, Kenya
Olivia is a Director, Partnerships and Services, Kenya at Worldreader. She provides strategy, oversight, technical direction, and implementation of social and behavior change communication across various geographical regions.
Olivia has over 20 years of experience in communications, working as a marketing specialist, a creative director in top ad agencies, brand strategist, and developing award-winning social and behavior change campaigns for various multinational corporations.
She is madly in love with nature and often spends time off-grid-walking, camping, running, relaxing, and just plain doing nothing in hard-to-reach places. However, occasionally, she’ll enjoy the hustle and bustle of visiting popular, historical, and culturally-significant locations.
One of Olivia’s all-time favorite books is A Passage to India by E.M. Forster, which she first read while in her early teens.
Sonny Lacey
Director, Product
Sonny leads the product ideation and feature design for Worldreader’s public and internal products, driving reader and partner adoption in underserved communities.
His 25-year career has spanned military, commercial and non-profit work in North and South America, Africa and Asia. For the past 10 years, he has worked with childhood literacy application development and book supply chain strengthening in Africa and Central America. He is a strong advocate for testing applications in the field with real-world users in the challenging conditions where they often find themselves.
Sonny spends his free time working on his boat and exploring the harbors and bays. When he is not covered in sawdust, he is learning new painting techniques.
One of Sonny’s favorite books is Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoinne de Saint-Exupéry.
Mirtha Vaca-Wilkens
Director, Transformational Giving
Mirtha believes doing good leads to meaningful outcomes. Over the last two decades, she has successfully secured millions to support vulnerable communities, with a particular focus on youth. As the Director of Transformational Giving, she plays a pivotal role in building Worldreader’s network of advocates and champions. An Emmy-award-winning journalist, Mirtha excels in fundraising, marketing, and communications, with expertise in branding, crisis management, advocacy, and consensus-building. She enjoys writing poetry, reading, and exploring the outdoors with her husband and three children in her spare time.
A proud child of Ecuadorian descent, she holds a special appreciation for The Last Days of the Incas by Kim MacQuarrie, which has deepened her understanding and admiration of Incan history.
Erin Williams
Sr. Strategic Operations Officer
As the Sr. Strategic Operations Officer, Erin plays a pivotal role at Worldreader, driving organizational excellence to ensure the successful execution of the annual work plan and strengthening board engagement across all entities. Her leadership helps optimize operations, allowing the team to expand fundraising efforts and scale impact. She brings 20 years of experience in international development, primarily in the nonprofit sector. She spent a decade managing grants and prize competitions for All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development, a partnership between USAID, the Australian government, and World Vision. She has also consulted on MCC and World Bank projects. Erin has led global literacy initiatives, supporting Education in Emergencies and accessible book creation in underserved spoken and signed languages.
Erin holds a Master’s degree from Yale and a Bachelor’s from American University. A children’s literature advocate, she enjoys adventure, travel, and life with her family – and one determined escape-artist cat.
One of Erin’s favorite books is Wild Swans by Jung Chang, a historical tale of the ties that bind across three generations of women.
Heidi Williams
Director, Accounting & Administration
Heidi joined Worldreader as one of our first volunteers in 2010 and now leads our Accounting and Administration team, focusing on accounting, audit, and facilities administration.
Prior to joining Worldreader, she worked in financial services and business management but attributes her keen organizational skill to the time she spent away from the workforce raising and reading to her two children. Heidi holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Composition from the University of Utah.
She is a rabid American College Football fan, and in her free time you will find her hiking or skiing the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
An all-time favorite book is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
Lynn Broeker
Associate Director, Marketing
As Associate Director, Marketing, Lynn manages the MarComs team and digital touchpoints of Worldreader, enables omni-channel and data-driven strategies, and makes sure the brand is safeguarded across different channels.
Lynn has over ten years of experience working in pharma, startups, and international organizations like the UN and OECD. She holds a BA in International Communications, a MA in Cultural Policies, a MA in Communications Research, and also studied Business Management and History of Art.
On the weekends, Lynn loves to spend her time outside, in the park or exploring the best coffee places in town.
She would recommend anyone to pick a children’s book every once in a while – and Worldreader provides an excellent selection of stories that transcend stereotypes. Her heart feels warm when she reads Astrid Lindgren’s Christmas in Noisy Village.
David Burgos
Sr. Software Lead Engineer
David leads Worldreader’s back end team taking care of performance, scalability, optimizations and code quality.
He has more than 14 years of experience, including co-founding multiple startups. He won the Game Weekend 2016 at Google Campus Madrid.
In his little free time due to his three kids, he likes to ride his bike and read about technology and history.
One book he recommends is The Swimmer In The Secret Sea by William Kotzwinkle.
Julia Cheng
Manager, Development & Operations
As Manager, Development & Operations, Julia is responsible for operations, Salesforce management, and contributing to donor engagement strategies. Prior to joining Worldreader, Julia served as the Development and Communications Manager at the Center for Racial Justice in Education and the Briefing Director at the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Julia strongly believes that all children should be able to thrive and reach their potential. Her AmeriCorps service year as a literacy tutor inspired her to pursue a graduate degree in Early Childhood Education to obtain expertise in addressing educational inequity.
Julia holds a M.S. in Education from Hunter College, a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Wesleyan University, and a Certified Nonprofit Professional credential. She is a native New Yorker from Queens and enjoys reading City Moon by Rachael Cole with her toddler son.
Bianca Fiore
Sr. Manager, Content Marketing
Bianca oversees Worldreader’s editorial and content marketing strategy from sunny Barcelona.
Prior to joining the organization, she was shining a light on the people and talent at work to solve humanity’s greatest challenges as the editor-in-chief of Atlas of the Future.
Bianca has worked in three continents in non-profit and media and is currently learning Catalan, her seventh language. She believes that powerful stories help us shape brighter futures and holds a Master of Arts in Comparative Literature from King’s College London and a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages and Cultures from the University of Genova. She will trade homemade lasagne for fun language facts.
Chlorophyll from the Blue Sky by her namesake Bianca Pitzorno got her reading and encouraged her to care for people and planet from a young age.
Sabrina Abreu González
Sr. Manager, Digital Publishing
With a focus on the U.S. and Latin America, Sabrina is responsible for acquiring and commissioning high-quality, impact-driving content for the BookSmart digital library.
Prior to joining Worldreader, she worked in educational sales at Lectorum Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Scholastic, and later served as an associate librarian at the Instituto Cervantes, New York. A graduate of New York University and Pratt Institute, Sabrina holds Master’s degrees in Publishing and Information and Library Science.
In her time off, she is happiest in the kitchen, where she enjoys perfecting her Puerto Rican cookery skills and trying out new recipes.
Her favorite book of all time is The Bear That Wasn’t by Frank Tashlin, a children’s book every adult should read (and reread).
Kelley Kemp
Lead Product Designer
Kelley is our Lead Product Designer, focusing on crafting engaging experiences for Worldreader’s user-facing products.
She is from Phoenix, Arizona but has been living in Barcelona since completing her Master’s degree there in Graphic Design. She brings five years of UI/UX and service design expertise from working in the field. Her last challenge was at Zurich Insurance Group, designing customer-facing digital products from conceptualization to deployment. She thrives best in complex situations that require creative problem-solving.
In her free time, you can find her playing volleyball, hiking, or experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.
Her all-time favorite book is East of Eden by John Steinbeck, which she re-reads every two years just for good measure.
Kevin Lewis
IT Manager
As the IT Manager, Kevin focuses on developing and leading IT strategies globally across Worldreader. These strategies include Systems & Database Administration, license management, onboarding and offboarding, and data security compliance. He brings over seven years of IT experience to Worldreader supporting a variety of many sizes of companies. He thrives to enhance the employee experience and applying new technologies is his passion.
Kevin holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Information Systems from the University of West Georgia. He also holds a Mac certification (ACSP).
Kevin enjoys traveling, seeing the outside world, and relaxing at home with family/friends.
His recommendation for a book is Fulfillment by Dolly Chugh.
Lisa McManus
Sr. Curriculum Designer
Lisa, a Sr. Curriculum Designer, has served students for over twenty years.
Before joining Worldreader, Lisa was the Education Program Manager at Reading In Motion and worked for over 13 years as an elementary teacher in Michigan, Georgia, and Illinois. In addition to her academic endeavors, Lisa is an executive function coach where she helps students develop their ability to plan and prioritize tasks, manage time, and increase their capacity to self-regulate.
Lisa holds a Master’s degree in Reading and Literacy, and in her free time enjoys teaching group fitness classes and volunteering at Chicago Canine Rescue.
One book that she recommends everyone read is Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear.
Lameck Momanyi
Sr. Cloud Engineer
Angela Riggs
Staff Recruiter/Executive Associate
As the Staff Recruiter/Executive Associate, Angela strives to find top-tier talent to join the Worldreader team and provide stellar service and support to the organization’s leaders and executives.
Angela is a multifaceted professional with a diverse background. She brings over ten years of experience recruiting talent for award-winning artists, productions, and events. She has provided administrative support to some of the world’s biggest names, brands, and businesses.
Aside from her role at Worldreader, Angela is a certified life coach, published author, and voiceover artist. She enjoys working out, being in nature, hiking, attending sporting events, concerts, and spending time with loved ones. Angela laughs often and strives to shine her light wherever she goes.
Angela’s book recommendation is her own, Walk in Your Light.
Guillem Santapau
Lead Software Engineer
Guillem leads front end project management and owns the UI/UX development of our web applications and tools from planning to release.
He is a Senior Front End Developer and certified Agile Project Manager with a wide range of experience in web projects. With many years of experience in Angular and WordPress front end and back end implementation, he has started projects of his own as well as delivered great websites for multiple companies and institutions. Guillem has also worked in the media industry in London and Barcelona as a video editor and motion graphics specialist.
Passionate about technology and design, he enjoys working in all kinds of multimedia projects, mixing his web and media expertises. Guillem spends his time off climbing, trekking, and enjoying music.
His recommended book is Deep Work by Cal Newport.
Mourice Wabwire
Content & Programs Associate
Mourice is a seasoned publisher with a passion for words, visuals, and exploration. He has a rich background in editorial and translation. He has worked with Kenya Literature Bureau, Longhorn Publishers, and Worldreader to bring stories to life, transcending language barriers and cultural divides.He also has developed an expertise in the realm of Metadata, through his work as a Metadata Consultant for more than four years in Worldreader.
Beyond the pages and screens, Mourice is an avid photographer and traveler. Reading is his lifelong companion and ultimate form of escapism. Whether it’s the classics, the latest bestsellers, or the leadership genre, Mourice finds solace and joy between the pages of a well-written book.
Mourice recommends The Alchemist Novel by Paulo Coelho because it’s a deeply philosophical and inspirational novel that explores themes of destiny, personal legend, and pursuing one’s dreams.
Kathrina Wadhawan
Director, Major Gifts
Kathrina is responsible for Worldreader’s Major Gifts fundraising efforts by building meaningful relationships with foundations, corporations, and individual major and prospective donors. With a background in education and environmental fundraising, she has ten years of experience in managing campaigns, events, reports, proposals, board engagement, and developing donor pipelines while balancing fundraising goals and donor needs.
As a previous reading tutor, Kathrina graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in Linguistics and holds a certification in fundraising from Indiana University, Lilly School of Philanthropy.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time in nature, exploring the culinary diversity of the Bay Area and beyond, and can also be found on the wheel at her pottery studio.
Her favorite reads include One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and books by Elena Ferrante and Thich Nhat Hanh.
Our Invitation
Whether you’re a company, a donor, or a family—this is our moment.
Let’s get families reading!
