Advocate. Support. Reinvent.
Our Team
Meet the Board
Our board is made up of talented professionals dedicated to bringing the writing community FREE, accessible programming. Spot them hanging out on Twitter, in the discord, or at our events.
Dakota Rayne
Board President & Treasurer
Dakota is a developmental editor, small business owner, and mental health professional. They grew up in a culture that valued oral storytelling and found families. In realizing they were a bit of a misfit in a misunderstood world, they dedicated their life to helping individuals tell their story, in hopes that we can learn and grow from each others' experiences. This led to them forming Inked in Gray Press, a small press dedicated to raw, authentic storytelling.
Skaeth
Board Vice President
S. Kaeth is a dreamer and always has been. In the gorgeous Driftless area of the Midwest United States, she spins tales of other worlds. Writing and creative expression in various forms are an integral part of who she is. She is the indie author of Windward and the Children of the Nexus series, and a co-founder of IndieStoryGeek.com. In addition to WriteHive, she can be found on her website, Twitter, and helping out at WriterInMotion.
Siri Svay
Board Secretary
Siri (she/her) is an award-winning marketer and certified diversity, equity, and inclusion professional. In her spare time, she is a self-published poet, mental health advocate, gamer, anime fiend, and cosplayer. Her goal in life is to forge connections and bonds with others and help build fruitful communities.
Keir Alekseii
Board Member
Keir Alekseii is an Associate Literary Agent at Azantian Literary Agency and hopes to one day represent best-selling writers from marginalized backgrounds, especially BIPOC authors born and raised in the Global South. As a neurodivergent, queer woman of color, she is invested in work with similar representation and passionate about creating space for voices not often recognized. Keir is also a freelance editor-for-hire and enjoys her day job as an educator and cat wrangler. She is a past participant of the Cropper Residential Writing Workshop (2019) and a Poet-Author Fellow of the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing (2020).
Justine Manzano
Board Member
Justine Manzano is the geeky author of geeky YA novels. Her fiction is tough on the outside and sweet on the inside, like an M&M or a hard candy with a gooey center, delivered with sass and snark. A freelance editor, she also serves as an Editor-in-Residence here at WriteHive. She lives in Bronx, NY with her husband, son, and a cacophony of cats and can usually be found at her website, www.justinemanzano.com or all the usual social media haunts. If you’ve looked in all these places and can’t find her, she’s probably off reading fanfiction. She’ll be back soon.
Lauren Persons
Board Member
Lauren (she/they) works on NASA spaceships by day and writes by night. She is published in the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, and was chosen as a mentee for the 2020 WriteMentor program. She loves to read and write kidlit, especially featuring girls in STEM and any LGBTQIA+ representation.
Jerusha René
Board Member
Jerusha (she/her) is a sci-fi and fantasy writer who lives in sunny California. She is the CEO for WriteHive. Her short story, Pandora's Attic, was published in the charity anthology Autumn Nights. She seeks to promote equality, healthy relationships, and environmentalism in her stories. Aside from writing, Jerusha is a blackbelt in karate and enjoys video games, water painting, and spending time with her puppy.
Tiffany Christina Lewis
Board Member
Tiffany is the author of ten books (seven fiction, three non-fiction) and has been published more than a dozen times in anthologies and magazines. She is a podcaster who shares writing tips from a Beta Readers' perspective and works to help authors in many facets of the self-publishing journey. She is also a publisher at Rebellion LIT who works tirelessly to support other authors looking to bring their art to the world. She resides in Sacramento, CA with her family and Miniature Pinscher.
Kriti Khari
Board Member
Books have always played a pivotal role in my life. When I learned about the book blogging profession, I could not help joining the community! For the first time in my life, I had people I could talk to wholeheartedly about books. Book blogging gave me a new reason to read and write - to connect with authors and to connect them with other people - readers like you. Check out Kriti's blog, Armed with a Book or find her on Twitter!
Stefanie Contreras
Board Member
Stefanie Contreras (she/her) is a marketing director, author, and WriteHive marketing volunteer. She graduated with an M.S. in Communications from the University of Oregon and a double B.S. in Journalism and Advertising from Northern Arizona University. She also is a graduate from Valle del Sol's Hispanic Leadership Institute in Phoenix. Stefanie is the author of The Merry Maids sci-fi trilogy and four published short stories, Pestilence, The Warlock and the Crow, Collecting Dragonflies and Dragon Navidad (published as Nyx Coronado). In addition to writing novels, she is a volunteer with Quill & Crow Publishing House and Geek Girl Brunch. For more information, visit her at latinageekgirl.com.
Diversity. Inclusion. Awareness.
Diversity Ally Committee
Meet the Committee
We all have our unique lived experience. Race, gender, sex, gender and sexual preferences, religion, our mental health, the color of our skin-these are some ways we are different from one another; these are some ways we are judged by others.
WriteHive continues to strive to be welcoming and inclusive, and part of this goal is to recognize the limitations one can have. With this in mind, WriteHive has created the Diversity Allies Committee to serve lateral to our governing Board of Directors. Their goal is not to educate, but to help guide others when they ask for advice on the server. Diversity Allies help WriteHive in ensuring that our programs, events, and communication are not harmful to people from marginalized communities.
Lauren Persons
She/Them
Lauren works on NASA spaceships by day and writes by night. She is published in the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. After being selected as a mentee for WriteMentor 2020 and AuthorMentorMatch Round 8, this year Lauren will be a mentor for WriteMentor 2021. She loves to read and write kidlit, especially featuring girls in STEM and any LGBTQIA+ representation.
Léon Othenin-Girard
He/they
Léon Othenin-Girard is a computer science student who tries to squeeze in as many tabletop RPGs they can between uni and writing. He loves writing speculative fiction almost as much as he loves reading it, and has a special place in his heart for the weird and the surreal.
Antoinette Van Sluytman
She/Her
Antoinette is a creative writer, fine artist, and the co-owner of Broken Chalice Studios, a multimedia studio that promotes diversity and empowerment through graphic novels, writing, and film. She's also written poetry and short stories which have been published in the City Works Journal spring 2021 issue, featured at the 55th SDLB annual Local Author Showcase, and gone on to win a few awards, like the Scholastic Art & Writing award. Antoinette also writes graphic novels and won the #RevPit art contest. She is an Outreach volunteer, Moderator, Diversity Ally, and Artist Professional in Residence.
