Bay Area
WOMEN in PUBLISHING
Building an inclusive community for women-identifying and nonbinary publishing professionals
THE ROBIN SEAMAN AWARD
BORA KIM
Bora is an Associate Sales Manager for Key Accounts at Chronicle Books, where she has worked for over six years. Moving to the U.S. at 15, she experienced the transformative power of books firsthand—stories became her bridge to learning English and navigating a new culture. She later honed her editorial expertise by earning a Professional Sequence in Editing certificate from UC Berkeley. An avid reader and bilingual in Korean and English, she is passionate about connecting people with books that inspire, inform, and enrich lives.
ISADORA COATES​
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Isadora Coates is an editor to the student-led press Four Leaf Collective. She is the standing president of the Graduate Writer’s Association at the University of San Francisco. She is completing her MFA with an emphasis on poetics and ethnography. Prior to graduate school, Isadora was a case manager for those experiencing intimate partner violence in Portland, Oregon. Isadora is passionate about accessible literacy, welding social work and the arts. She is enamored by the avant garde and the strange.
KEIKO O’LEARY
Keiko O’Leary helps writers see the big picture while taking meaningful action today. She is a publisher and co-founder of Thinking Ink Press, a book publisher recognized for its commitment to amplifying disabled, LGBTQ+, and neurodivergent voices. As Poet Laureate of Cupertino, California, Keiko leads workshops that celebrate creativity in her local community. She is the author of Your Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay Inspired. Connect with Keiko at KeikoOLeary.com or on Instagram @KeikoOLeary
SHANNA FARRELL
Shanna Farrell is an oral historian at UC Berkeley's Oral History Center, where she has worked since 2013. She specializes in environmental history, food and beverage culture, arts and culture, and community and identity. She serves on the Oral History Association’s council and the editorial review board for The Oral History Review. Farrell is the author of two books, A Good Drink: In Pursuit of Sustainable Spirits and Bay Area Cocktails: A History of Culture, Community and Craft, and produces the OHC's podcast, “The Berkeley Remix.” She holds an MA in Oral History from Columbia University and an Interdisciplinary MA from New York University.
NATALIE SO
Natalie is a writer, editor, and researcher, currently working as Deputy Editor at The Believer magazine. She started her career in journalism writing profiles of artists, and then spent five years working at the intersection of long-form nonfiction and film/TV at Epic Magazine. There, she produced a photo essay with first-person stories of immigrants that became the basis for the TV show "Little America." She has also worked as a researcher on the TV shows The OA, A League of Their Own, and A Murder at the End of the World. Her story “Aristocrat Inc.,” about the early days of Silicon Valley and forgotten Asian-American History, was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2023.
SONYA PENDREY
Sonya Pendrey believes words change the world. She uplifts others’ writing to bring about long-lasting, beneficial change to protect people and the planet. A former nonfiction editor of Invisible City Literary Journal and intern at Zyzzyva, a San Francisco Journal of Arts & Letters, she currently teaches, writes, and teaches writing with love. Their work is dedicated to the sweetest pup, Lily.
LIZA OLMSTED
Liza Olmsted (they/them) is a publisher and co-founder of Thinking Ink Press, which publishes fiction and nonfiction books that amplify disabled, LGBTQ+, and neurodivergent voices. Drawing on their own experience as a neurodivergent person, Liza was the co-editor of The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters, a hopeful science fiction anthology exploring encounters between aliens and neurodivergent people. Liza is a life and work coach for neurodivergent professionals. Connect with Liza at LizaOlmsted.com.
MAXIE MOUA
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Maxie was first introduced to the publishing industry in 2022 as an entry-level assistant in subsidiary rights. Currently, she is the Rights Associate at North Atlantic Books. She received her MFA in fiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts and her BA in English at UC Berkeley. Maxie is a child of Hmong refugee and immigrant parents, and a first-generation Hmong American. Her creative writing centers the contemporary and futuristic Hmong American experience, navigating the terrains of intergenerational trauma toward healing planes.
MICHELLE BLACK
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Michelle is an artist and designer who lives and works in Oakland. She attended California College of the Arts where she received an interdisciplinary BFA in sculpture, printmaking, book arts, and writing. While at CCA their work focused on sculptural aspects of unbound book forms with the intention of inviting the viewer to become a collaborator. Michelle is currently a Design and Production Associate at University of California Press, but has worn many hats professionally, including Wine Merchant, Screenprinter, and Artist’s Assistant.
ANNA GABRIELLA CASALME​
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Anna Gabriella Casalme is a writer, educator, and founder of Novelly Publishing and Youth Authors Week. She holds a BA in Human Biology and Education from Stanford University and an MSc in Childhood Studies from the University of Edinburgh. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Education List in 2023 for her work on the cultivation and inclusion of youth voices in literature. Anna lives in San Francisco with her sister and two cats.