Kapua Iao (she/her) was born and raised on the beautiful island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, though she felt the travel bug at an early age. She holds an MA in art history from the University at Buffalo and an MA in museum studies from the University of Toronto. Besides working at Yellow Arrow, Kapua is also an editorial assistant for Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and an editor for miscellaneous archaeological monographs and journals. She spends her summers in Crete, Greece, with the Gournia Excavation Project (gournia.org) and has written a few publications herself. Having traveled and lived all around the world, Kapua currently resides in Montréal, Quebec.
Annie Marhefka, Executive Director
Annie Marhefka (she/her) is a writer in Baltimore, Maryland whose publications have appeared in Pithead Chapel, Whale Road Review, Lunch Ticket and more. She is the winner of the 2024 Eunice Williams Nonfiction Prize and her work was featured on The Slowdown Show. Annie is working on a nonfiction manuscript about grief and astrophysics with support from the Maryland State Arts Council, Gullkistan Center for the Arts, and the Tin House 2024 Winter Workshop. She has a BA in creative writing from Washington College and an MBA, and is an MFA candidate at The University of Baltimore. You can find her writing on Instagram, Twitter, and anniemarhefka.com. When Annie is not writing, she is usually trying to find her way back to the water.
Alexa Laharty, Creative Director
Alexa Laharty (she/her) is a designer and sometimes archaeologist living in Berlin, Germany. She grew up in Portland, Oregon (just a few blocks away from Gwen [Van Velsor], Yellow Arrow’s founder!), before moving to Boston, Massachusetts, then the United Kingdom to study archaeology. She spent most of the last decade as an archaeologist, before finally making the switch to a career in design. You can find her on Instagram @alexaelisabeth.
Kyra McDonnell, Community Engagement & Events Manager
Kyra McDonnell (she/her) is a community engagement professional and proud resident of Baltimore City, Maryland. After moving to Baltimore from Rhode Island, Kyra quickly fell in love with the city and works professionally in various neighborhoods with residents to increase civic engagement and transparency with local government. After graduating with degrees in English and communications, she continues to explore her love of stories and is a passionate reader who is excited to connect Yellow Arrow authors with readers everywhere.
Raychelle Heath, Workshop Programming & Curriculum Manager
Raychelle Heath is a poet, artist, teacher, coach, yoga and meditation instructor, podcaster, and traveler. She holds a BA in languages and an MFA in poetry. She uses her writing and podcast to tell the multifaceted stories of black women in the world. She also explores her experiences with the culturally rich communities that she has encountered in her travels. She has been published by Travel Noire, Yellow Arrow Journal, The Brazen Collective, Locked Horn Press, Community Building Art Works, and others. She also holds yoga certifications for Kripalu Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and Mind Body Meditation. She is currently director of curriculum and coaching for the Unicorn Authors Club.
Allyson Waldon, Publication Sales Manager
Allyson (Ally) Waldon’s (she/her) entire world revolves around books. She recently received her MFA in creative writing and publishing arts from the University of Baltimore (UB). While at UB, Ally served as an editor for Welter, a literary magazine. When she isn’t writing, she manages operations at The Book Rack, a woman-run educational book distributor. In her free time, Ally performs with local community theaters and choirs in the Baltimore area. She is currently working on the creation of a new collaborative musical at Fells Point Corner Theater. She is also working on keeping her dog and cat from eating one another. Interior Lives, a self-published collection of short prose, can be found at allywaldon.com.
Melissa Nunez, Interviewer
Melissa Nunez is a Latin@ writer and homeschooling mother of three from the Rio Grande Valley region of south Texas. She enjoys observing, exploring, and photographing the local flora and fauna with her family. These adventures, along with her culture and community, inspire much of her writing. Her work has appeared in Honey Literary, Variant Lit, Susurrus, and others. She is a column contributor at The Daily Drunk and also a staff writer for Alebrijes Review. You can follow her on Twitter @MelissaKNunez.
Marylou Fusco, Author Support Coordinator
Marylou Fusco (she/her) grew up in the wilds of New Jersey and knew she was a writer forever. She holds a BA in Journalism from St. Bonaventure University and an MA in Creative Writing from Temple University. She has worked as a newspaper reporter, GED instructor, and ghost tour guide. Marylou’s writing has appeared in PopMatters, Carve, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Mutha Magazine, and various literary journals. She makes her home in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband and daughter.
Ann Quinn, Chapbook Poetry Editor
Ann Quinn’s (she/her) poetry was selected by Stanley Plumly as the first-place winner in the 2015 Bethesda Literary Arts Festival poetry contest and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her work is published in Potomac Review, Little Patuxent Review, Broadkill Review, and other journals and is included in the anthology Red Sky: Poetry on the Global Epidemic of Violence Against Women. Ann lives in Catonsville with her family where she teaches reflective and creative writing and music and plays clarinet with the Columbia Orchestra. Her degrees are in music performance; she fell in love with poetry in midlife. Her chapbook, Final Deployment, is published by Finishing Line Press. Please visit online at annquinn.net.
Claire Taylor, Chapbook Prose Editor
Claire Taylor writes for both adult and youth audiences. She is the author of a children’s literature collection, Little Thoughts, as well as multiple chapbooks, including Mother Nature and One Good Thing. Her debut picture book, Benjamin’s Sad Day, is forthcoming from Golden Fleece Press. Claire is the founder and editor-in-chief of Little Thoughts Press, a literary magazine for young readers. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her family and pets in an old stone house where birds love to roost. You can find her online at clairemtaylor.com.
Sara J. Streeter, Yellow Arrow Journal Guest Editor (X/01)
Sara J. Streeter (she/her), or 한혜숙 Hea Sook Han, is a writer and a Korean-American adoptee. Since starting her writing journey in 2021, Sara found her writing community through Adoptee Voices and developed a meaningful connection to readers, both within the adoption constellation and beyond. She mainly writes creative nonfiction prose and has been published in literary journals, such as Longleaf Review, Hippocampus Magazine, Peatsmoke Journal, The Rappahannock Review, GASHER Journal, Cutleaf Journal, and others. Sara has been nominated for Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and Best Small Fiction. She joined the Yellow Arrow community when her piece “Bitter / Sweet” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal kitalo Vol. IX, No. 2. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her family and is an interior designer for a small hospitality firm. You can find her at sarajstreeter.com.
Jill Earl, Editorial Associate
Jill Earl is a writer based in Maryland. As a past member of the Maryland Writers Association, she served as a proofreader then later editor of the membership publication Pen in Hand. She was a contributor and newsletter editor for WOW! Women on Writing, an online magazine for women writers. She was published in Pen in Hand, Topology (formerly catapult magazine), WOW! Women on Writing, and on the website Your Tango.
Angela Firman, editorial associate
Angela Firman (she/her) is a midwesterner at heart living a Pacific Northwest life with her best friend and their hilarious, sometimes demanding, roommates aged 7 and 11. Angela is an avid reader, a closet-cross-stitcher, and a fervent writer. While she has always enjoyed journaling, writing became a source of healing for Angela after being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. She found a place in the literary world in a writing group for young breast cancer survivors—women who have grown to be some of her dearest friends—and now as an editor for Wildfire Magazine—a magazine and writing community for people diagnosed with breast cancer under 50. She was diagnosed again at 37 with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, which has strengthened her relationship with God and allowed her to find absolute joy doing work she loves, uplifting the voices of her fellow survivors and other marginalized voices as an editor. Her nonfiction writing has been published in Wildfire Magazine, Open Minds Quarterly, You Might Need To Hear This, and Press Pause. You can find her on Instagram @angelafirman11.
Meagan Gamble, Editorial Associate
Meagan Gamble (she/her)–or just Meg if you like–is a writer and bookseller living in Boulder, Colorado, for some reason, despite the fact that she is terrified of heights. She graduated from City University of London with an MA in creative writing and publishing in 2016 and now works in academic publishing. She is an editor, writing tutor, and her dad says she’s “Amazing, Beautiful, and Smart.” She hopes to keep working in books in some capacity for the rest of her career, either behind the scenes or as a novelist herself. You can find her on Instagram at @mgnface.
Siobhan McKenna, Editorial Associate
Siobhan McKenna (she/her) is a middle child and a lover of bikepacking and practicing yoga. She enjoys writing essays and longwinded letters to friends. In addition to her work at Yellow Arrow, Siobhan is a registered nurse and is currently pursuing her MFA in writing at Bennington College. Her writing can be found on the Yellow Arrow blog, in Intima, and in Bellevue Literary Review. She lives in New York City. You can follow her on Instagram @sio_han.
Kait Quinn, Editorial Associate
Kait Quinn (she/her) is a poet and professional shower singer born and raised in Texas. She earned her BA in English writing from St. Edward’s University. She is the author of five poetry collections, and her work has appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic, Exposition Review, Reed Magazine, Watershed Review, and elsewhere. She received first place in the League of MN Poets’ 2022 John Calvin Rezmerski Memorial Grand Prize, the Sad Girl Diaries’ 2023 Fall Poetry Contest, and the 2024 Southern MN Poets Award. Kait serves as a poetry reader for Black Fox Literary Magazine and was a community editor for the Saint Paul Almanac’s 20th anniversary anthology. She enjoys repetition, coffee shops, tattoos, and vegan breakfast. Kait currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her partner and their very polite Aussie mix (Jesse). Find her at kaitquinn.com and on Instagram @kaitquinnpoetry.
Leticia Priebe Rocha, Editorial Associate
Leticia Priebe Rocha (she/her) is a poet, visual artist, and editor. She is the author of In Lieu of Heartbreak, This is Like (Bottlecap Press, 2024). Leticia earned her bachelor’s from Tufts University where she was awarded the 2020 Academy of American Poets University & College Poetry Prize. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, she immigrated to Miami, Florida, at the age of nine and currently resides in the Greater Boston area. Her work has been published in Salamander, Rattle, Pigeon Pages, Protean Magazine, and elsewhere. Leticia is an editorial associate for Yellow Arrow Publishing and served as guest editor for the EMBLAZON issue.
Beck Snyder, Editorial Associate
Beck Snyder (she/they) is a writer, editor, newsroom grunt, and all around creative who spends their free time crafting stories and playing video games (sometimes at the same time). They’re currently living in Washington D.C., after a long and exhausting battle with the job market and are excited to see where life takes them. You can find them on Instagram @real_possiblyawesome or on Twitter @PossiblyAwesom if you’d like to hear the thoughts that pop into their head at three in the morning.
Anna Leonard, READER
Anna Leonard (she/her) is a poet, musician, and artist based in Richmond, Virginia. She is an MFA candidate studying creative writing (poetry) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and got her BA in theater with a minor in creative writing from VCU in 2019. Her poems can be read in Emerge Literary Journal, Anti-Heroin Chic, Eunoia Review, and elsewhere. She has a review forthcoming in Blackbird where she is also an associate poetry editor and associate podcast editor. She has songs available to stream on all streaming platforms.
Nichola Ruddell, Reader
Nichola Ruddell lives in Nanaimo, British Columbia with her husband and two young children. She attended the University of Victoria receiving her degree in Child and Youth Care. Nichola is also a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist. She loves writing, is a published poet, recently became an associate member of the League of Canadian poets, and is currently working on a book of poetry.
Mel Silberger, Reader
Amelia (Mel) Silberger is from and currently lives on Long Island, New York, and works as an account executive with Syntax Communication. She received her degree in psychology and writing with a minor in political science in May of 2024 from Loyola University Maryland. Mel is an aspiring creative nonfiction writer and editor who has loved creating stories since she was six years old, and hopes to continue to grow and build with other writers in the future.
Jillian Tremblay, Reader
Jillian Tremblay is a recent graduate of the University of Scranton, where she received her degree in English, with minors in political science and philosophy. Her short stories have been published in her university’s literary magazine, Esprit, on which she also served as an editor and assistant production manager. Jill currently works as a bookseller in New York City, where she constantly explores and gleans inspiration from new and antiquarian literature.
Natalie Wollenzien, Reader
Natalie Wollenzien is a fiction, nonfiction, and poetry writer. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, she works at Milkweed Editions as the marketing and publicity coordinator and writes freelance reviews for Foreword Reviews. She received her first writing residency from Kentucky Foundation for Women in 2024. She has work out in San Antonio Review and Anti-Heroin Chic and is building toward a full-length short story collection.
Jacqueline Goldman, PUblications Intern (Spring 2025)
Jacqueline Goldman (she/her) is an aspiring publishing professional and junior at Loyola University Maryland pursuing a degree in communication and media with a specialization in journalism and a minor in writing and business journalism. With experience as managing editor-in-chief for The Greyhound, nonfiction editor at Corridors Literary Magazine, and acquisitions editor at Apprentice House Press, she enjoys shaping compelling narratives and pushing the envelope.
GABBY GRANILLO, author support Intern (Spring 2025)
Gabrielle Granillo is studying English and writing at Loyola University Maryland, minoring in environmental science and art. Raised in Arizona, with much of her family still on the west coast, she now lives in central Massachusetts, her home for the past 12 years. She aims to live in northern Europe after graduation and receive a master’s degree in photojournalism. Gabby spends her days reading Irish novels, practicing street photography, and trying out new recipes. Her three favorite things are hot tea, antiquing, and road trips. She looks forward to making valuable contributions to the Yellow Arrow team, as a woman-identifying writer herself, looking to explore further editorial practices and enhance her voice using inspiration of her fellow staff members.
Board of Directors
If you are interested in joining the board of directors, view our open roles here. Read our bylaws here.
Mickey Revenaugh, Board President
Mickey Revenaugh is an education innovator, mission-driven leader, and recovering journalist/current writer of creative nonfiction and fiction. In addition to cofounding a Maryland-based international network of virtual schools, she serves in Board leadership for a New York City charter school, a national charitable foundation, and a global private school. Her writing has appeared in VICE, Chautauqua, Cleaver, Catapult, Louisiana Literature, Lunch Ticket, and many others. She holds an MFA from Bennington College, an MBA from New York University, and a BA in American Studies from Yale. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, and can be found online at mickeyrevenaugh.com or on Instagram @mickeyrevenaugh.
Sara Palmer, DIRECTOR OF BOARD DEVELOPMENT & Governance
Sara Palmer (she/her) began writing poems in childhood, and poetry has been a vehicle for self-expression, healing, and enjoyment throughout her life. During her career as a psychologist, Sara worked primarily with people living with physical disabilities and chronic illness and with their caregivers. She coauthored three books in the Johns Hopkins Press Health Book series (on spinal cord injury, stroke, and raising kids with physical disabilities), and wrote a fourth book in that series on living with Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia, a genetic vascular disease. After retiring from psychology, Sara focused on imaginative writing through classes offered by Yellow Arrow Publishing, the Writers’ Center, and Everyman Theater. Her poems appear in Yellow Arrow Journal, Pen in Hand, Fractured Hearts: Multi-faith Words of Hope and Healing, and Poetry is Life: Writing with Yellow Arrow.
LaWanda Stone, Director of Diversity & Inclusion
LaWanda Stone (she/her) leads executive communications at Stanley Black & Decker and inner communications as a certified yoga instructor at Life Time Fitness as well as her own platform, Namastone Yoga. Previously, she was a reporter for Fortune magazine, washingtonpost.com, Chicago Tribune, and Dow Jones Newswires. Her passion is to help individuals show up as their authentic selves and be seen through storytelling. Her worldview has been shaped traveling North America, South America, the United Kingdom, Africa, and Australia. She has degrees in journalism from Howard University, management (organizational leadership) from American Public University, and an RYT-200 yoga teaching certification from Life Time Fitness. You can find her on Instagram @Namastone_Yoga.
Barbara Frey, Director of Fundraising (Co-Chair)
Barbara Frey wears two hats. She is an event design specialist, most recently providing decorations for the June 20, 2024, Friends of Yellow Arrow gathering, and she is an online learning consultant, drawing on more than two decades of experience with Connections Academy, Baltimore City Schools, and beyond. Her articles have been published in educational journals and magazines.
Nikita Rimal Sharma, Director of Fundraising (Co-Chair)
Nikita Rimal Sharma (she/her) currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband, Prashant and dog, Stone. She works at B'More Clubhouse, a community-based, mental health nonprofit organization focused on psychosocial recovery. She graduated with a master’s in public administration from Wichita State University, Kansas, which is where she landed when she first moved to the U.S. in 2013. When she is not working, Nikita is busy reading, writing and reflecting, hiking, or spending time with family and friends. She has been involved with Yellow Arrow Publishing through the Poetry is Life workshop, her first poem ever published in Yellow Arrow Journal, and her first chapbook publication, The most beautiful garden. She loves being a part of this amazing women driven creative community. Find her on Instagram @nikita.playwithwords.
Cindy Schuller, Treasurer
Cindy Schuller (she/her) is a CPA and has been working in various accounting and process improvement roles for over 20 years. She was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and has lived in Baltimore, Maryland since the early 2000s after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Master of Accounting. She works as a director on the global process transformation team for a leading education company. She currently lives in Millersville, Maryland with her husband, Kevin, and their children, Lauren and Kyle. In her free time, she enjoys reading, baking, and playing board games.
Susie Duong, Assistant Treasurer
Susie Duong brings 15+ years of experience in accounting, finance, and academics to her role with Yellow Arrow. She has held leadership positions at a global professional organization and is currently working as a subject matter expert and instructor for a leading education company. She earned her PhD in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MPhil from the University of Hong Kong, and a BA from Fudan University. Susie resides in Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, two daughters, and their miniature schnauzer.
EMILY ROSS, Director of GRANTS
Emily Ross (she/her) is an arts and humanities professional with expertise in museum education, social work, and grantmaking. Working at the intersection of culture and human services she champions collaboration and community voices in her career. She holds a BA in art history from the University of Virginia and an MSW from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She currently works as the program officer for grants at Maryland Humanities. Based in Baltimore, she enjoys trips to the Renaissance Fair, New England beaches, and art museums.
Kelsea-Marie Pym, Board Secretary
Kelsea-Marie Pym is a political consultant primarily working in the nonprofit advocacy space, focusing for the past decade in nonpartisan civic engagement and democracy issues. Kelsea’s professional ghost writing has appeared in outlets from the New York Times to the Sacramento Bee, and everywhere in between. Kelsea has been fortunate to live on both coasts, from Portland to San Diego and from Boston to Washington, D.C., and to now reside in west Michigan. The perspectives from different cities in addition to a multitude of life experiences inform both her professional and personal work. Kelsea holds her BA from Boston University.
Annie Marhefka, Executive Director
Annie Marhefka (she/her) is a writer in Baltimore, Maryland whose publications have appeared in Pithead Chapel, Whale Road Review, Lunch Ticket and more. She is the winner of the 2024 Eunice Williams Nonfiction Prize and her work was featured on The Slowdown Show. Annie is working on a nonfiction manuscript about grief and astrophysics with support from the Maryland State Arts Council, Gullkistan Center for the Arts, and the Tin House 2024 Winter Workshop. She has a BA in creative writing from Washington College and an MBA, and is an MFA candidate at The University of Baltimore. You can find her writing on Instagram, Twitter, and anniemarhefka.com. When Annie is not writing, she is usually trying to find her way back to the water.
GWEN VAN VELSOR, FOUNDER
Gwen Van Velsor (she/her) writes creative nonfiction and pseudo-inspirational prose. She started Yellow Arrow in 2016 as a project that publishes and supports writers who identify as women. Raised in Portland, Oregon, Gwen has moved many times, from sea to shining sea, now calling Bosnia her home. Her major accomplishments include walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain, raising a toddler, and being OK with life exactly as it is. She has published two memoirs, Follow That Arrow, in 2016 and Freedom Warrior, in 2020 through Yellow Arrow Publishing (find them here). For other books and musings by Gwen, visit her website gwenvanvelsor.com.
Previous team members
Thank you to everyone who has helped Yellow Arrow grow and thrive. For information about our current and past team members, click here. For our past journal guest editors, click here.