| Author | Biography | Book Cover(s) |
|---|---|---|
Shari Maser | Shari Maser Piracha is the author of the non-fiction book Blessingways: A Guide to Mother centered Baby Showers-Celebrating Pregnancy, Birth, and Motherhood. She wrote this “how-they” book for women when she was a childbirth educator who was also pregnant herself. Later as the homeschooling mother of two bookworms, she started writing children's stories. Her fiction story The Memory Tree was published in baby bug magazine, and she hopes to publish a picture book someday too. Now that Shari’s children are grown, she serves as an independent educational consultant and founder of YouQuest College Advising, as well as part of the student services team at Washtenaw Community College. When she is not busy supporting students, she enjoys playing Scrabble and ping pong, reading lots of books, walking with dogs or other humans in all kinds of Michigan weather, and traveling the world. |  |
Sandee Rodriguez | Sandee Rodriguez lives in Ypsilanti Michigan. She started writing at 19 years old with a poem about a French Fry. While continuing to pursue poetry, she responded to an ad about learning to write children's books and began writing short stories. At the age of 24, she sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury, amnesia, and paralysis, among other challenges. One of those challenges was language. Exploring writing, through Speech Therapy, she returned to poetry, children's stories and eventually journalism. Sandee spends her days baking, caring for her 3 dogs, and continuing to write early reader books. She’s also working on a full-length musical about her journey living with Traumatic Brain Injury. | |
Gregg Barak | Gregg Barak is an Emeritus Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Eastern Michigan University. Barak is an award-winning author and editor of books on crime, justice, media, violence, criminal law, homeless- ness, and human rights. He is also the co-founder and North American Editor of the Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime. | |
Kelly Murdoch-Kitt | Kelly Murdoch-Kitt is an Associate Professor at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan. She is a user experience designer and educator focused on people, systems, and interpersonal interactions. In her work and teaching, human connection drives the creation of effective and socially responsible concepts. She integrates visual communication, user experience, and service design with behavior change and social engagement, drawing on her industry experience as a user experience strategist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to joining U-M, Murdoch-Kitt served as an Assistant Professor in the School of Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She also taught in the Graphic Design Programs at the University of San Francisco and California College of the Arts. Her excellence in teaching and contributions to service within the discipline have been recognized by the Design Incubation Communication Design Educator Awards: Intercultural Design Collaborations in Sustainability; and the Decipher 2018 Design Educators Research Conference. Murdoch-Kitt and her research partner, Dr. Denielle J. Emans of Roger Williams University are co-authors of Intercultural Collaboration by Design: Drawing from Differences, Distances, and Disciplines through Visual Thinking (Routledge 2020). Based on their research, the book offers more than 30 visual thinking activities to support effective collaboration among diverse teams. Their research group, ORBIT Labs (Online Resource for Building Intercultural Teams), was recently recognized as a recipient of the 2022 Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award for Excellence in Promoting Equity and Social Change. Murdoch-Kitt and Emans are currently working together on a new book about the intersection of creative practice and psychological resilience, which argues that everyone can learn to become creatively resilient—and put methods of adaptability, flexibility, and optimism into practice. Its 15 case studies include various projects, practices, and activities that show readers how to utilize creative methods to work positively with uncertainty. |  |
DC Armijo | A lifelong Michigan resident, DC Armijo is an accomplished executive with over 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience. He is married, has a college-aged daughter, and currently splits his time between Milford, Michigan and Naples, Florida. DC has a bachelor’s degree from Oakland University and a master’s in health services administration from the University of Michigan. After beginning his career in hospital administration, he transitioned to working for nonprofits focused on environmental and public health concerns. DC’s dedication to purpose-driven work is founded in a childhood marked by poverty and a father’s illness. Those early challenges gave him the lifelong gifts of resilience, empathy, and purpose. He believes the nonprofit sector has grown increasingly important because of declines in governmental effectiveness and floundering public policy. As a result, we need more nonprofit leaders who are driven and equipped to make a difference. DC’s book, The Nonprofit Dilemma explores why nonprofit management is so challenging. It is based on the simple idea that nonprofit leaders frequently encounter a choice between advancing their organization's impact or its financial health. Nearly every decision comes with the same underlying question—which aim to prioritize? |  |
Bethany Neal | Bethany Neal is the author of the internationally published young adult novel My Last Kiss (FSG Books for Young Readers/Macmillan). When she's not writing, she is part of the editorial team at Cherry Lake Publishing and teaches writing workshops at the Ann Arbor District Library. | |
Shanna K. Kattari | Shanna K. Kattari, PhD, MEd, CSE, ACS (they/them/theirs) is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, and is the director of the [Sexuality | Relationships | Gender] Research Collective. A white, Jewish, nonbinary, disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent, polyamorous, queer fat Femme, their practice and community background is as a board-certified sexologist, certified sexuality educator, and social justice activist. Dr. Kattari’s research focuses on three areas that often overlap; disability & ableism, sexuality & sexual health, and queer & trans affirming practice. Dr. Kattari also explores experiences of sexuality in marginalized communities, most notably disabled adults, LGBTQIA2S+ individuals, those practicing non-monogamy, and those practicing kink/Leather/BDSM. In their free time, they love to cook, garden, read, and DM a neuroqueer party of D&D. They live in Ypsilanti, and co-partner three opinionated cats and one sassy pitbull with their two partners. | |
Kelly Hoppenjans | Singer-songwriter Kelly Hoppenjans creates empowering rock, combining the spirit of riot grrrl tinged with folky introspection. The follow-up to her energetic 2019 full-length debut, OK, I Feel Better Now, her new EP Can’t Get the Dark Out dives deep into relationships, fate, and breaking free of toxic patterns. The EP is inspired in part by Hoppenjans’ journey of finding love during the pandemic: navigating online dating, confinement, and impending life changes to sustain that love. Kelly authored Kelly Hoppenjans Takes Herself Too Seriously, A Collection of Poems, Music, Lyrics and Some Real Arty Shit. "In contrast to what the title says, Hoppenjans brings a playfulness by including drawings, handwritten notes, and QR codes on the pages of the book. Poems and lyrics are distinct but morph into one form or the other when on the page or sung in a recording." —A2Pulp |  |
| Author | Biography | Book Cover(s) |
