CBC Diversity: Our Industry Cares About Kids on the Margins

One of the most encouraging signs of change since I've been in this vocation was the establishment of the Children's Book Council Diversity Committee in January 2012.

Here's their mission statement:
The CBC Diversity Committee is one of five committees established by the Children's Book Council, the national nonprofit trade association for children's trade book publishers. We are dedicated to increasing the diversity of voices and experiences contributing to children’s and young adult literature. To create this change, we strive to build awareness that the nature of our society must be represented within the children’s publishing industry. 
Many of us have been yipping and yapping about these issues for years, so to watch movers and shakers within the industry gather to advocate for young people on the margins has been nothing short of thrilling. Here's a list of the editors and marketing folk currently serving on the committee:
  • Alvina Ling (Chair), Executive Editorial Director, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  • Daniel Ehrenhaft, Editorial Director, Soho Teen/Soho Press
  • Antonio Gonzalez, Assoc Marketing Manager, Author Visits, Scholastic
  • Connie Hsu, Editor, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  • Wendy Lamb, VP and Publishing Director, Wendy Lamb Books/Random House Children's Books
  • Daniel Nayeri, Digital Editorial Director, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Books
  • Andrea Davis Pinkney, VP and Executive Director of Trade, Scholastic
  • Caroline Sun, Senior Publicity Manager, Integrated Marketing HarperCollins Children's Books
  • Namrata Tripathi, Executive Editor, Atheneum/Simon and Schuster
  • Liz Waniewski, Executive Editor, Dial/Penguin Books for Young Readers
Ayanna Coleman, librarian and CBC staff liaison, works diligently and excellently to coordinate the Committee's events and news. If you know any of these people, why not extend a word of thanks? Also, each week, CBC Diversity rounds up relevant news in children's books and diversity. Sign up here to receive these enlightening emails.