Literary Safari offers consulting, editorial development, and project management services. Some of our clients include: * McGraw Hill - Identify, commission, develop and edit original fiction and nonfiction GK-6 leveled readers by award-winning, diverse trade authors for school market; develop scopes and sequences for literacy products; develop inclusive bibliographies; develop and write culturally responsive literacy lessons*Sesame Workshop Formal Learning Group - Curriculum design, lesson writing, and project management for pre-K to Grade K content such as financial literacy, SEL, and civics/social studies (partners include The Primary School, Discovery Education, )*Stride/K12.com - Develop courses for criminal justice career pathways*Benchmark Education - Identify, commission, develop and edit original fiction G3-5 leveled readers and graphic novels by award-winning, diverse trade authors for school market* Nick Jr./ Splashworks - Curriculum design and script development for Paw Patrol preschool ap *UNESCO MGIEP- Narrative Design and Script writing for  World Rescue, online game based on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals *What to Expect Foundation/US Department of State - Editorial Director of international low literacy editions of What to Expect When You're Expecting for Liberia and Bangladesh*E-Line Media - Content production, STEM online game, Ion Future*Lion Television/CPB/Oregon Public Broadcasting)- Narrative Design & Curriculum Design for HD Lab, an online game based on PBS series History DetectivesWe have also written:* Novel Guides for Pearson's My Perspectives Plus Digital Learning program * Curriculum Guide for "This is Where I Need to Be: An Oral History of Muslim Youth in NYC" (Teachers College, Columbia University, Student Press Initiative)* Lesson plans for The New York Times Learning Network*Discussion guides for middle grade books including Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate and Tell Us We're Home by Marina Budhos

Over the years, alongside our client work, Literary Safari has created its own IP. Here are products that I'm proud to call our own and the roles that I have played in their development. *Creator and Publisher, Podcasting 101 for Educators - online, self-paced course for teachers, librarians, and homeschooling parents*Creator and Executive Producer, The Story Seeds Podcast - Featured in Wired, Common Sense Media, and more*Publisher, Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity (activity book for children ages 6-12) - Wirecutter Best Gifts for 10 Year Olds *William H.G. Butler Middle School - A graphic novella created for Instagram. Inspired by news & research, the story examines the Orwellian realities that could face schools in an America without gun reform. Comes with a companion #ArmMeWith reading list (where 50 award-winning authors share their recommendations) and #ArmMeWith games list (where Leading game designers, researchers, and educators recommend 20 empathy and social-emotional learning games for young people growing up in the shadow of lockdown drills and school shootings).* Creator and Publisher, Grandma's Great Gourd, an award-winning storybook app based picture book Grandma's Great Gourd by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (www.grandmasgourd.com)* Creator and Publisher: HangArt, a literacy app (IOS and Google Play) - Best of 2016 EdTech (Common Sense Media)  (www.hangart.co)* Creator and Publisher, Dentist Bird: A West African Folktale book app (IOS and Google Play)

Scholastic Inc.- Served as external counselor and publishing consultant- Collaborated with cross-divisional steering committee of editorial leaders within the company to create written guidelines to support Education Solutions division and Scholastic goals of creating equitable materials for all children- Reviewed curatorial policies throughout Scholastic and made recommendations for consistency across divisions and inline with mission and credo- Conducted curatorial review of Rising Voices collection of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI)- Liaised with internal and external staff, consultants, and advisors - Reported to CEO and Chair of Board

Conceptualized, exec produced, and launched a kids + family podcast Story Seeds. The podcast brings diverse children ages 6-12 and authors together at the same table to collaborate on a story. It is hosted by librarian and children's book author Betsy Bird. Authors include Jason Reynolds, Aram Kim, Dan Gutman, Chris Grabenstein, and Veera Hiranandani. Since its launch in March 2020, The Story Seeds Podcast has been featured in Apple iTunes/Podcasts, Spotify, The New York Times, Time for Kids, Book Riot ("10 best bookish podcasts), Wired ("Best Kids Podcasts"), CBC ("7 Kids Podcasts that are Perfect for Family Listening"), NPR, Today.com Parents, and School Library Journal ("Story Seeds: A Podcast for Our Time"). Story Seeds is one of 21 kids and family podcasts to have been awarded the inaugural Common Sense Media Selection Seal for podcasts. And National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Jason Reynolds, describes the show as "one of the best podcasts ever." As of August 2024, we have nearly 400,000 downloads. Our activity book Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity is a Wirecutter /NYT "Best Gifts for 10 Year Olds" selection and has sold 3000+ copies. It offers children ages 8-12 activities that pair with ten episodes of our podcast. During the summer of 2020-2021, we conducted youth podcasting workshops for kids and teens. Our workshops were co-designed with educators and we have since launched a self-paced online course for teachers, librarians, and homeschooling parents - Podcasting 101 for Educators.

Kids' Inclusive and Diverse Media Action Project is a new interdisciplinary coalition formed to raise awareness about the need for inclusive, equitable, and diverse children’s media. Our collaborative is made up of creatives, developers, producers, publishers, marketplace shapers, educators, and researchers. Together, we not only address the need for more diverse content in mobile media, but also highlight those companies that are creating quality, innovative children’s media products. Recognizing that children’s content lives on and crosses over multiple platforms—TV, apps, websites, books, and games—we support the creation of diverse children’s digital media products through research, best practices, and collaboration.

Lead Content Producer for ionfuture.org, an online game to promote STEM careers, produced by Change the Equation and E-Line Media. - Managed editorial team to research, prototype, produce, and develop original game content which featured over 40 interviews with leading STEM professionals, STEM is Everywhere object/career matching mini-game, and Career Quest mini-game. More details upon request.

Curriculum consultant and developer for PBS series History Detectives and the forthcoming, America Revealed. Responsibilities include:Reviewing scripts for curriculum alignmentDeveloping standards-based lesson plans and ancillary teaching materials

Developed content and user experience for HD Lab, an educational game for middle school students modeled after the popular PBS series, History Detectives and developed by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Through high-interest settings, characters, and a narrative based on student-driven discovery, HD Lab engages and motivates students to interact with specific historical eras. Its interactive platform, Open Investigation, offers students a scaffolded environment to conduct their own object investigations. See http://www.hdlab.usResponsibilities included:* Collaborating with historical societies, museums, historians, and educators to identify the material objects for the HD Lab investigations, * Developing and scripting a narrative design for the historical-fiction modules which align to and support history/social studies curriculum and skills. * Develop teacher site featuring standards-aligned lesson plans, reproducibles, and assessment rubrics* Facilitate pilot testing with middle school students in the NY area. * Editorial project management, including asset acquisition, permissions, and editorial oversight

Write weekly lesson plans and special features on history/social studies, math & economics, health, and technology for the NYT Learning Network (http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com). Samples include:*Point Counter Point: How to Use (and Avoid Misusing) PowerPointhttp://nyti.ms/9xgXPi*Great Debate: Developing Argumentation Skillshttp://nyti.ms/bgNFxY*Making Sense of the Census: Ideas for Classes Across the Curriculumhttp://nyti.ms/aJWTRq*Women's History Month Across the Curriculumhttp://nyti.ms/bQs6h1*Tweet a Little Tweet: Examining the Rise of Twitter and Microblogging and Applying It to the Classroomhttp://nyti.ms/aduQ2a

Conceptualized, prototyped, and developed Table of Contents for pupil edition of Scholastic's Expert 21, a middle school inquiry-based reading and writing program for the 21st century. Units of focus included: Stories of Survival, On a Mission, America Speaks, and A Better World, and Writing (advised by Ruth Culham). Additional responsibilities included multicultural lit search, commissioning of original literature from award winning authors such as Joseph Bruchac, Mitali Perkins, Paul Fleischman, and Walter Dean Myers; and developing prototype for "Write + Communicate" units (advised by program author, Ruth Culham). See http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/expert21/index.htm

Three + years of experience developing original language arts classroom materials for a student and teacher audience. Editing WRITING, an award winning magazine for middle and high school students and helped create a literary blog WORD. Engaged freelance writers and supervised associate editors. Contacted authors and develop new product ideas, including interactive web features and multimedia literary student writing showcase. Collaborated with Google for Educators to develop lesson plans for using Google Docs to teach revision.

* International News Desk Intern, MSNBC.com* Correspondent, Beijing + 5 Conference, United Nations, Women's Wire* Editor, "Breaking the Silence: Domestic Violence in the South Asian-American Community" (anthology, Xlibris Press)* Author, "Moments with a Master" (biography-memoir, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi)* Articles and essays published in Ms. magazine, Little India, A. magazine, Savvy Living, Chaitime, Tingis magazine* Literature Research Fellowship, Asian American Writers Workshop

Taught two semesters of Writing 102, freshmen college composition. Developed original syllabus based on interdisciplinary readings with focus on critical writing.

Manage and oversee operations of campus-based tutoring and learning center. Responsibilities included training peer and professional tutors, developing subject-specific materials and resources, overseeing budget and administrative reports, and conducting workshops and programs.