Aracelly Arcilla
Office Manager
Favorite Recent Read: In Defense of Plants by Matt Candeias
Birthplace: Medellín, Colombia
Living In: Coral Gables, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Production supervisor at a clothing export company.
Fun Fact: Aracelly studied nursing in San Francisco, California.
Krishna Bhat
Special Sales Manger
Favorite Recent Read: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Birthplace: Kent, England
Living In: San Francisco, California
Second Favorite Job: Being a kids art teacher.
Fun Fact: Krishna has a vast vinyl collection which goes back 45 years or so, and he is an artist and illustrator.
Elina Diaz
Art Director
Favorite Recent Read: You Don’t Have to Like Me by Alida Nugent
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
Living In: Miami, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Working as the receptionist at the Lowe Art Museum in Coral Gables.
Fun Fact: Her personal work has been displayed in Times Square twice.
Robin Miller
Managing Editor
Favorite Recent Read: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio
Living In: Miami, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Teaching waterskiing at a resort in northern Michigan.
Fun Fact: Do not ask Robin about her cat unless you are prepared to see a LOT of photos.
MJ Fievre
Director of Global Editions and Juvenile Publishing
Favorite Recent Read: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Birthplace: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Living In: Miramar, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Working as a program and marketing coordinator for the Miami Book Fair.
Fun Fact: MJ loves Bob´s Burgers, merkitties and Animal Crossing (Nintendo DS).
Aibike Kalibekova
Accounting and Finance Manager
Favorite Recent Read: Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Birthplace: Almaty, Kazakhstan
Living In: Miami, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Working with amazing people in one of the Big4 audit companies.
Fun Fact: Aibike is a big fan of traveling; she has done a road trip around the US and visited 11 states and 22 cities in a week.
Nehemie Pierre
Data Analytics Manager
Favorite Recent Read: Finding Me by Viola Davis
Birthplace: Miami, Florida
Living In: Miami, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Community Leader and Advocate for overlooked and under-resourced communities in the Miami area.
Fun Fact: Nehemie’s first flight in life was a 48-hour flight to Mumbai, India.
Haley Pody
Analyst
Favorite Recent Read: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia
Living In: Alabama
Second Favorite Job: Search Quality Rater at Sykes.
Fun Fact: Haley refused to read fiction books on her own time from the ages of 6-8, until she discovered the historical fiction genre, which sparked her love for fiction once again.
Mitchell Kaplan
Editor-at-Large, Books & Books
Favorite Recent Read: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Birthplace: Miami, Florida
Living In: Miami, Florida
Fun Fact: Mitchell is a co-founder of Miami Book Fair International.
Brenda Knight
Publisher
Favorite Recent Read: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Birthplace: Gallipolis, Ohio
Living In: San Francisco Bay Area, California
Second Favorite Job: Working at her aunt’s nursery, instilling in her a deep love of gardening.
Fun Fact: Brenda is also a poet—she opened for Lawrence Ferlinghetti when he toured in Europe.
Christina McCall
Predictive Analytics
Favorite Recent Read: The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
Birthplace: Irvine, California
Living In: Herndon, Virginia
Second Favorite Job: Working as a merchandise hostess at the Emporium in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
Fun Fact: Christina loves experimenting with crazy hair colors and her favorite so far has been ocean blue.
Lisa McGuinness
Creative Director & YPP Publisher
Favorite Recent Read: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen
Birthplace: Oakland, California
Living In: Walnut Creek, California
Second Favorite Job: Working as a wedding florist.
Fun Fact: Lisa is a tennis fiend, and loves to both watch it and play it!
Chris McKenney
President & CEO
Favorite Recent Read: Open by Johan Norberg
Birthplace: Denver, Colorado
Living In: Miami, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Working with all the good people and publishers of Publishers Group West (PGW) as Chief Operating Officer.
Fun Fact: Chris and his wife, editor Mary Rajkumar, have traveled to over seventy countries, many with their two kids.
Raj McKenney
Customer Service Coordinator
Birthplace: Berkeley, California
Living In: Miami, Florida and Edinburgh, Scotland
Second Favorite Job: No idea. (This is Raj’s first job.)
Fun Fact: Raj once helped to make a modding project which doubled active users for a game.
Scott McKenney
Director of Analytics
Favorite Recent Read: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Birthplace: Auburndale, Massachusetts
Living In: Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Second Favorite Job: Bonding with his Golden Retriever, Fiona. Oh, and Scott was a career officer at the CIA.
Fun Fact: Scott is happy to have flunked retirement and now be working at Mango.
Megan Werner
Junior Designer
Favorite Recent Read: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Birthplace: Midland, Michigan
Living in: Miami, Florida
Second Favorite Job: At a tech startup that’s dedicated to increasing volunteer participation in high school and college students.
Fun Fact: Megan thinks there is never a “wrong” time for a donut and is starting her tattoo collection.
Roberto Nuñez
Director of Mango Online
Favorite Recent Read: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Birthplace: Quito, Ecuador
Living In: Quito, Ecuador
Second Favorite Job: User Interface and User Experience Design, as well as Online Marketing on personal projects.
Fun Fact: Roberto loves vertigo and has jumped from a bridge four times. Parachuting is next on his list!
Nathaniel Parker
International Publishing & Rights Coordinator
Favorite Recent Read: Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
Birthplace: Harlem, New York
Living In: Boca Raton, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Making and delivering pizza that brought smiles and full bellies to many.
Fun Fact: Nate plays the piano and electric guitar.
Hannah Jorstad Paulsen
Director of Marketing
Favorite Recent Read: Humankind by Rutger Bregman
Birthplace: Tromsø, Norway
Living In: Oslo, Norway
Second Favorite Job: Hannah worked at Marvelous Norway, a media company, as a community manager.
Fun Fact: Hannah loves to hang out with animals and her hobbies include knitting, crocheting and playing the ukulele.
Yaddyra Peralta
Director of People Development
Favorite Recent Read: Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz
Birthplace: Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Living In: Little Haiti, Miami
Second Favorite Job: Visiting Poet at Emerson Elementary School for O,Miami Poetry Festival’s Sunroom project.
Fun Fact: Yaddyra once spent a summer in the Amazon rainforest.
Mary Rajkumar
Editorial Advisor
Favorite Recent Read:An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Birthplace: Singapore
Living In: Miami, Florida
Fun Fact: If she wasn’t an editor, Mary would probably be a pianist in a jazz bar.
Giulia Scarnecchia
Director of Finance
Favorite Recent Read: Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
Birthplace: Teramo, Italy
Living In: Bologna, Italy
Second Favorite Job: Administrative coordinator for Teramo Triathlon Team, a sport association in Italy.
Fun Fact: She went skydiving twice but can’t take a dip into the sea—even if she were a swimmer.
Natasha Vera
Associate Editor
Favorite Recent Read: The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio
Living In: Coral Gables, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Working at a bookstore!
Fun Fact: She is a singer and songwriter.
Hugo Villabona
Director of Publishing Operations
Favorite Recent Read: Meet Me in the Bathroom by Lizzy Goodman
Birthplace: Bogotá, Colombia
Living In: Miami, Florida
Second Favorite Job: Fact-checking for Mental Floss.
Fun Fact: Hugo has seen every Simpsons episode. Ever