Start Date: April 9, 2018

What she does at Book Harvest: Amy leads the team that partners with schools, parents, and caregivers to build a culture of literacy and parent networks. She also manages the Books on Break program in Durham County.

Favorite Children’s Book Right Now: This changes frequently, but her current favorite is Laxmi’s Mooch, written by Shelly Anand and illustrated by Nabi H. Ali.

Likes & Loves: A hula hooping, binge watching mom of one human and one cat, Amy enjoys cooking (and eating!), playing with her nieces and nephews, laughing hysterically with her siblings, building her muscles, and dressing up for no reason at all. She always feels a tinge of sadness at the end of a good book.

Community Involvement: Amy is a member of The National Afterschool Association, on the Advisory Board for The North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs, a National Institute of Out-of-School Time (NIOST) Afterschool Matters Fellow, a member of the International Literacy Association, 2021 Education Policy Fellowship Program fellow with Public School Forum of NC, and a part of Durham’s Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

Where she studied: Bachelor of Arts, English Education, North Carolina Central University

Experience: A combined 25+ years of experience in school settings as a classroom teacher (English & language arts), as an out-of-school-time educator & leader, and as a professional development trainer.

What she’s hopeful for: Amy is hopeful for a time when it is the norm to see representation of every child’s experience, background, and culture in children’s books, a time when seeing yourself in the pages of a book is as ubiquitous as water.