Access to books, specifically books in the home, is critical to children’s growth, education, and life opportunities.
Mission
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to increasing literacy and educational equity by getting books into the hands of kids who need them.
Why
Access to books, specifically books in the home, is critical to children’s growth, education, and life opportunities.
Independent reading is a widely recognized precursor to better skills acquisition, higher grades, higher income, increased professional and employment opportunities, and more. Yet almost 66% of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for their children.
Multiple studies have shown that the presence of books in the home has a greater influence on a child’s level of education than does the income, nationality, or level of education of that child’s parents.
Co-Founder
Karen Kilpatrick
Karen Kilpatrick’s career has spanned multiple industries and roles - from practicing attorney, legal admissions consultant, and business owner to author, brand creator, and VP of Marketing/ Emerging IP at global toy company, Jazwares. The common thread? Storytelling. She is passionate about communication through different mediums to inform, persuade, teach, entertain, and drive results.
Authors4Education stems from Karen’s lifelong dedication to children and education. In her role as VP of Marketing, she started Jazwares’ “Adopt-a-School” program, through which Jazwares was able to provide school supplies and toys, host events, and launch in-school programs for schools in underserved communities. As an author, and inspired by her son's idea to bring "Adopt-a-School" to publishing, she is working to elevate this idea to a national level where she can partner with other companies and authors dedicated to supporting children in need.
Karen’s current children’s book titles include When Pencil Met Eraser and When Pencil Met the Markers (Macmillan, 2019 & 2020). MeBears, a brand she created with her daughters, launched in 2019 through Russ. She is also a board member of Women In Toys, Licensing & Entertainment where she was honored with their 2017 Wonder Woman Rising Star Award and has served on the board of Junior Achievement, a national non-profit focused on financial education for children.
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Board Members
Alita Friedman
Entrepreneur, and C-Level executive, globally respected branding expert, and Adjunct Professor, Alita Friedman builds brands into hundred-million dollar, household-name properties. Alita has executed successful programs for marquee character brands, sports organizations, retailers, and celebrities including UGLYDOLL, the U.S. Open, CBS brand Star Trek, Hello Kitty, Warner Brother's DC Comics, the rock band KISS, Google Android, Makerbot 3D Printing, and Land's End.
Known for the strength of her creative vision and comprehensive business plans, Alita is also a veteran spokeswoman with numerous media appearances over the past fifteen years, who develops and executes high-visibility and high-engagement campaigns across traditional and new media channels for her domestic and international clients. As Adjunct Professor, Alita leads the Lehigh Silicon Valley Program immersion program & creates/teaches MBA Venture Series Entrepreneurship courses at Lehigh University. In 2015 she received the Farrington Award for her contributions to the advancement of entrepreneurship from Lehigh University and the Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity & Innovation. Alita is the Treasurer and Executive Board member of Women In Toys, Licensing & Entertainment where she was honored with their 2013 Wonder Woman of Toys Award.
Germán Blanco
Germán Blanco is a children's book illustrator and graphic designer who is passionate about comics, art, and community service. A former Creative Director at global toy company Jazwares, Germán led corporate branding initiatives and spearheaded the design for numerous children's brands. Germán has worked for Del Monte, the GB Group, and several agencies but discovered his passion in illustration. His current titles include When Pencil Met Eraser and When Pencil Met the Markers (Imprint/Macmillan 2019, 2020).
Deborah Warren
Deborah Warren is the founder of East/West Literary Agency, a boutique agency that represents a wide range of #1 NYT, #1 PW, IndieBound, USA Today, WSJ, and Amazon best-selling and best-illustrated books, Caldecott, Newbery, Sibert, Cook, Stonewall and Geisel medalists, as well as Andre Norton, Gelett Burgess, Children’s Choice, Parents’ Choice, Prism, Audie, Green Earth and Crystal Kite award-winners and nominees.
Deborah founded E/W in 2000 after 17 years at Harcourt, and has a strong background in sales and marketing. She’s a strategist, incorporating long-term goals to help E/W clients not only grow a career, but to flourish within that career. With over 40 years’ of experience in the publishing industry, and over 20 years at the helm of the Agency, Deborah not only represents authors and illustrators of picture books, she represents authors and illustrators—both debut and established—in the board book, concept, novelty, multicultural, non-fiction, middle-grade and young adult markets.
Charles Philippin
Charles Philippin retired as Chairman of the Board of Ulta Beauty as of September 30,2018; he served on the Board of Ulta for approximately 10 years. Mr. Philippin was a principal of Garmark Advisors, a mezzanine investment fund, from 2002-2008 and served as Chief Executive Officer of Online Retail Partners from 2000-2002. From 1993-2000, Mr. Philippin was a member of the management committee of Investcorp International Inc., a global investment group. Prior to 1994, he was a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he served as National Director of Mergers & Acquisitions and also as a member of the Firm's governing council. Mr. Philippin was a member of the board of directors for Alliance Laundry Systems, Samsonite Corporation, Saks Fifth Avenue, CSK Auto Inc., Circle K, Carters, Simmons Mattress, Prime Service, Cary Limousines, Jostens and others.