Amanda Gorman: Poet and Activist

L’Oreal Thompson Payton is an award-winning journalist, author, and wellness advocate whose work lives at the intersection of mental health, identity, and culture, with a special focus on the well-being of Black women and girls. She is the founder of LT in the City Media, a storytelling platform that includes the motivational newsletter LT in the City Weekly and Werking Moms Club, a podcast and blog celebrating the joys and struggles of modern motherhood. Her writing has been featured in outlets such as Essence, Fortune, SELF, and New York Magazine, and she is the author of Stop Waiting for Perfect: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into Your Power. A certified yoga teacher and lifelong member of the BeyHive, L’Oreal lives just outside of Chicago with her husband and daughter. Amanda Gorman: Poet and Activist is her debut children’s book.

Laura Freeman is the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race, for which she won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and NAACP Image Award. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts and has illustrated over thirty children’s books, including Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice and The Faith of Elijah Cummings: The North Star of Equal Justice. She lives with her family in Atlanta.