Laura Beam McKinney

FOUNDER
 

Biography: Laura Beam has spent over a decade working with preteens, teens, and young adults. Her work has centered around literacy, service learning, college preparedness, and special education. In 2017 she transitioned from working primarily with high schoolers to working with middle schoolers. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Mills College where she wrote her undergraduate thesis as a critique of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight. After graduating from college, she became the associate editor of the 2011 New Press anthology, BE HONEST: And Other Advice From Students Across The Country. Laura Beam began her work researching, reading, and analyzing diverse young adult literature in 2014 (inclusive of Asian American & Pacific Islander, Black & African American, Latinx, Native American & Indigenous, Muslim, Jewish, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Non-binary, Asexual & Demi-sexual, and Disability & Mental Health perspectives), the culmination and continuation of which was the building of Everybody Books. She has a Masters degree in Equity & Social Justice Education from San Francisco State University where she wrote her masters thesis on the importance of access to diverse young adult books in schools. Laura Beam aims to read a minimum of 50 books per year, the majority of which are diverse young adult and middle grade books.

Positionality: Laura Beam is an educator and young adult literature scholar who was born, raised, and currently lives and works in San Francisco, CA. Laura Beam’s pronouns are she/her/hers. She is a white educator with an invisible physical disability.